


Middle-Earth - At the Edge of Time

by J_Flattermann



Category: The Lord of the Rings (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 03:05:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1154007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/J_Flattermann/pseuds/J_Flattermann
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frodo betrays the fellowship and teams up with Gollum.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Middle-Earth - At the Edge of Time

  
[](http://pics.livejournal.com/j_flattermann/pic/000bbabc/)  
 

 

Fandom: LOTR 

Pairing: Aragorn, Boromir  
Disclaimer:  Pure Fiction. No copyright infringement intended.  
Rating: AU  
Word Count: 9,707  
  
They cowered themselves between the rocks of Orodruin, watchful their gaze focussed on the entrance to the mountain. Both men hiding on each side of the little path, that led up into the cave. They knew, that Gollum and his new companion Frodoc were still inside.  
Frodo had failed them! The ring had gained power over him and had turned him into Frodoc, a creature quite like Gollum.   
Aragorn signalled Boromir, his plan to sneak further up, to see whether he could find the two.   
Frodoc and Gollum had befriended themselves and decided to keep the ring between them. Fearful of being discovered by the evil lord, they had staid inside the mountain.  
  
The army of men supported only by a handful of remaining elves, had fought bravely but hopelessly for many months and now at the brink of defeat, Boromir, his brother and the new king had decided to take matters into their own hands.  
With Mithrandir leading the army, which in their helpless state was only capable of causing a slight distortion, the two brothers and the last heir of the Kings of Númenor, had sneaked into Mordor to destroy the ring and if need be the ring-bearer himself and his companion.   
Faramir still suffering from the injuries, he had received in the battle of Osgiliath, was unable to make the climb and therefore had agreed to stay behind and shield their rearguard.   
  
Boromir could not agree to Aragorn's plan. They did not know, in who’s possession the ring was, Gollum’s or Frodoc’s. To move forward alone, bore too much risk, either of being detected or if both of them were showing at the same time, not being able to pin the ring-bearer down. They had to stay together and make their move together, if they wanted to succeed.   
Therefore the King's first Steward shook his head in denial. He signalled, that he also would move further up, on his side of the path. Both men had to be careful not only to remain undetected by the two villainous creatures, but also to remain unseen by the ever watchful great eye of Barad-Dûr.  
  
Cautiously the two men crawled forward towards the entrance of the mountain. In front of the great cave there lay a body and both identified Samwise Gamgee, Frodo's companion and friend immediately. They checked on the body, who obviously was there for a while, as the decaying processes had already started. However, that his throat had been cut was still easily detectable.   
¨Poor Sam,¨Aragorn whispered and Boromir only shook his head. Of all the Halflings they had travelled with, Sam had been the most liked, for his quiet and helpful nature. To see him lying like this, saddened the two men and they looked at each other, knowing, that they would pick the body up on their way back. Just for now there was no time to loose. As neither Frodoc nor Gollum was to be seen, they made the dash into the cave, only to find the place desolate. There must be another exit, for the two creatures were gone.   
  
They made their retreat after searching the cave thoroughly. On their way back, they picked up what was left over of Sam and dismounted the steep climb. At the bottom of the mountain they were greeted by Faramir, who likewise mourned the untimely death of Master Sam.   
They all came to the same conclusion. The only one, who had been armed was Frodo, therefore Frodo must have killed Sam, possibly immediately after the ring had taken power over him. All knew, that Gollum would have used a different way to kill Sam, like breaking his neck or ripping his throat out with his teeth, but he would never have used a weapon.  
When lifting the body of Sam, Boromir and Aragorn had found Sting, Frodo's little sword half buried under the corpse. Obviously Sam had been able to strip Frodo of his weapon, but too late to safe his own life.  
  
The three staid in their little camp over night and they decided to split up the next day. Faramir, due to his still festering injuries, would take Sam’s body onto the pony and leave Mordor on the small hidden path, they had entered the Dark Realm.   
Meanwhile, Aragorn and Boromir would travel light and hunt down the murderer and his new friend.  
  
They spent the evening with Faramir wondering, how to call the two creatures and making fun of it, he decided to find a name for them. After several trials and errors he came down with FROGOLS. Which caused the other two to give it a try as well. Aragorn went for GOLDOCS and Boromir for GOLLFROCS, claiming that the beast in the dungeon of Moria had been named a Balrog by Mithrandir, Gollfrocs sounded close to that. The other two liked his explanation and they decided to speak of Gollfrogs in future when talking of the two villainous creatures, Gollum and Frodoc.   
  
The next morning saw the parting of the two brothers. Boromir was well aware that it fell down to his baby brother to bring the bad tidings to Mithrandir. However, before the three men said their farewells a tiny messenger arrived, bringing sad news to the three.  
Mithrandir had sent his moths, which now laid before Aragorn, that the fair Lady Arwen had indeed died, before her father could send her to the safety of the Undying Lands. Aragorn and Faramir were quick to console Boromir, who, they knew well, had fallen deeply for the fair Elven-maid on first sight.  In secret Aragorn breathed a sigh of relief, as the elf had been his worst competitor in the affections of Boromir. With her gone, he now could take his time to make his  next move.   
  
The three decided to brief the tiny messenger with a summarized account of their findings and the note that Faramir was on his way back and would give them a more detailed report. They added, that Boromir and Aragorn were following the Gollfocs and trying to recover and destroy the ring.  
The three smiled at the first official use of their new naming and left the expression unexplained, for Faramir to cast light into the matter on his return.   
  
Just before they split, all three of them searched the foot of the mountain and they found the second way in and out the mountain. A cleft too small for a man but big enough for the two escapees. Aragorn investigated the tracks which clearly led away from the mountain in northerly direction towards the mouth of the Isen, to Carach Angren.  
  
Meanwhile Boromir and Faramir looked at the cleft, from which they could see the Sammath Naur and it was clear, that this escape route was not for the faint hearted. It was also clear, that the former Frodo had found the way, as he still walked on his feet upright, which had made it easily for him to get through the cleft. Not so Gollum, who obviously had been stuck, as Frodoc's sweaty footprint on the ash-dusted mountain face, told the telltale of Frodoc pulling Gollum through the cleft, with his foot firmly placed at one side of the cleft to support the pull.   
  
With Boromir and Aragorn now capable to follow the tracks of the Gollfrocs, Faramir bid his farewell once and for all, and taking the rains of his pony, made his way back out of Mordor.  
Even though he was prepared to meet with Orc and possibly even Uruk-hai patrols, therefore he was careful of avoiding the obvious routes and kept himself and his load hidden as best as possible. He fairly well knew, that with his only load being the dead body of Samwise Gamgee, he was most likely not in the target line of the enemy. His worries and thoughts lay with his brother, who accompanied the king in finding the two treacherous creatures. He hoped, that as long as they only tracked down the ring-bearer and his friend, they would be safe from attacks from Sauron's chargers.   
However, he had not much time to muse over the dangers his brother and his king might face, as his own path back to Gondor from the vicinity of Amon Amarth led him to Cirith Ungol and past Minas Morgul.   
  
Faramir was well aware that the minute he had to leave the shadow of Orodruin, he could be seen by the great eye of Barad-Dûr, therefore he tried to avoid the main road and keep the mountain between him and the Dark Tower for as long as manageable. He could feel the eye moving in his direction several times, but every time he had remained in the shadow of the mountain and the eye moved on.   
  
He marched about twenty-five miles a day, which was much slower than his normal marching speed, but it was his first time in Mordor. He desperately tried to avoid to attract too much attention, for he feared, if the forces of Mordor knew he was in their territory, they might search and find the other members of his party. He hoped, that by remaining unseen, he would give Aragorn and his own brother a fighting chance to catch-up with Gollum and Frodoc.  
  
By end of the first day he hit the road to Udûn. As a result of his precaution he was much to far north than he needed to be, as the Morgul pass was south of the Amon Amarth. He crossed the road at night, carefully watching out for travellers and camped behind the fold of the Morgai until the early hours of the next day.   
  
Like the nights before, when he had been with Boromir and Aragorn, he did not lit a fire. He helped himself to some bread and meat, accompanied by some water out of his provision pack.  Strictly following the rules not to drink or eat anything that came out of Mordor. The plateau of Gorgoroth did not provide much food anyway, but the saying was, that the one, who ate or drink of Mordorian things, would be turned into something dark and evil. It was broadly believed, that in this fashion the Orcs and Uruks had been created.  
  
Faramir followed the folds of the Morgai, keeping it between himself and the plateau. This made his march very difficult as he had to squeeze himself through between the folds and wall of stone which formed the precipice of the Ephel Duath. The thirty miles down to where the Morgai opened up to the Morgul pass seemed to be endless. Several times he had to cower down and let the light, that shone out of the Great Eye, pass, hoping and praying that neither the pony nor he had been detected.  
  
Everytime the Eye went past he waited, fearful that suddenly the light might return and remain onto him, but the Eye moved on like the moving light of a lighthouse in a dark and foggy night. He remembered well, when they had entered Mordor many days ago, how the stench and the smoke had burnt his eyes and lungs. By now he barely registered this anymore. Only he seemed to have forgotten how fresh air felt and the water he drank from his bottle was always mixed with the ashes caked on his face and lips. The poisonous air of Mordor filled his lungs and gave him strange phantasy's.  
  
When they first had crossed the Ephel Duath and moved past Cirith Ungol the citadel had been empty and the Morgul pass had lost it’s greatest danger with the death of Shelob. Boromir had left some men behind to burn-out the rest of the spiders brood and to make sure that none of her children survived. Then he had ordered to take over the Citadel of Cirith Ungol and re-man the bastions and the fortresses. Coming close to the Morgul pass, Faramir could only hope, that their men were still in the Citadel and that he could meet with Mithrandir there. He now had reached the most dangerous part of his journey, as he had to hit the road, leave the cover of the Morgai and therefore was easily to spy. With the Citadel back in men's hands, it was to be expected that Morgul forces were trying to claim it back, as it had been one of Sauron's strongholds so many years, even though it had been build by the Gondorian's in the first place.  
  
Faramir decided to make his move by night. If the Citadel was still in Gondorian hands he would be easily identified by the guards at the portal. If the Mordorian forces had come to reclaim the fortress, he could fall into their back and create a distraction, which would help the men on the fortifications to regain their strength. From mere speculation he could not form a plan. He had to see, how the forces were displayed to create his own strategy.  He crawled up to survey the terrain and could see that the Citadel indeed was still held by the soldiers of Gondor. Further up the road he could see a band of Orcs, obviously a scouting party. He decided to attack the group of five Orcs and therefore hid Sam's body near the gates of Cirith Ungol and mounted his pony.  
  
   


Aragorn and Boromir had no problems in following the track the Gollfrocs had left behind. Frodoc still walking on his two legs left a easy readable prints. Gollum’s footprints overlapped his, which meant that he was following after. 

“They are on their way to the Black Gate.“  Boromir stated. “Why? How, do they think, they can slip through unseen? They will carry the ring directly to our enemies.“  Aragorn nodded, there was nothing to add. Boromir had stated the facts, all they could do was catching the creatures before they reached the Black Gate. 

They increased their speed, time was precious now. 

 

Both men were not in the slightest worried to be detected by the great eye or any other of the Mordorian forces, as they were tracking down the ring, they both knew that they were rather followed than stopped. 

They would need to be more careful as soon as they came closer to the ring-bearer. For they both assumed, that the enemy would rather deal with the Gollfrocs than with themselves. But with almost a day between the Gollfrocs and them, they would worry about this when the time came. The plateau was perfectly flat and almost nothing grew on it, therefore there was almost no place to hide apart from the small, thorny shrubs growing here and there. These were hardly high enough to shield a man. 

 

They followed the tracks of the two escapees which led them now straight to Carach Angren. “If we can catch them before they reach the fortress at the Isenmouth,“ Boromir mused, “we could make our way out following the Morgai southward, back to Cirith Ungol. If we keep the Morgai to our left and squeeze through the precipice and the fold, we might be able to make it undetected, even if we are bearing the ring. From there it is a short way back to the mountain and we would march in his shadow all the time.“ 

Aragorn had to smile. He was completely dependent on his steward, as he never had been in this part of the country. Hearing Boromir musing this way, he felt safe, for he knew Boromir would find a way for them to escape. If it would come to the worst though, he had Boromir's strong arm and brave heart at his side. He knew his steward would rather give his own life, than allowing anyone to harm him.

 

The two men doubled their strides, being taller and able to stride longer, they made soon progress on the two Gollfrocs. By early afternoon they could see the two creatures in front of them and heard Gollum scream in anger, when he saw them approaching. The former Frodo, grabbed his companion by the arm and tried to drag him to speed up. He hissed at Gollum, that he would abandon him, if he would not make haste. Gollum started to whine and plead, stating that Frodoc had promised to stay with him, had promised to protect him. Frodoc let go of Gollum's arm, throwing it back towards his owner, snarled “But I will not let these catch me, Frodoc, Frodoc, Frodoc. You want to slow down, Frodoc, do so. I will not wait for you. Frodoc, Frodoc, Frodoc.“  “Ay, you promised us, you promised. Gollum, Gollum.“

  
An hour later and Boromir and Aragorn had the two creatures captured, just in time before night fell. 

Gollum and Frodoc had screamed as if to alarm entire Mordor and left Aragorn and Boromir no chance but to knock them out. Now they sat bound and gagged with eyes full of hatred in a bush by the road. The men had told them, that if they would stop screaming, they would be fed and have a drink, but as long as they were making noises, they would remain gagged. For the time being the Gollfrocs were not willing to give in. The two men couldn't care less, as they knew perfectly well, that as soon as thirst was gnawing at them, they would change their minds.

 

Aragorn had staid behind with the two captives, while Boromir had gone further to scan the surround, checking, if the havoc the creatures had made, had caused the Mordorian forces to move forward. He had gone in a wide circle and now hit the road to Udûn. He cowered for a while at the embankment of the road, pressing his ear on the ground to listen, if there was movement on the road above him. But everything remained silent. «This is too easy.» He thought. «Something is very wrong. Why are they not moving? Why are we not approached, attacked, what ever? This is wrong!»

 

He turned around and tried to spy the great eye, but the great eye was looking far to the South. He tried to make out the direction in which the eye was lurking and to his great astonishment and fear, he found that the eye was looking at Cirith Ungol. «Heavens! Faramir!… They are attacking Faramir. …Oh great Valar, little brother, take care, …take care of yourself.»

 

He almost sprinted back to Aragorn and the captives. “Rush, make haste, Aragorn!“ he shouted from afar. “They are attacking Cirith Ungol. We need to cease our chances. It's now or never. I don't know what is going on there, but the great eye and obviously many of the forces seemed to have been gathered at Cirith Ungol. Now is the time for us to make a dash to the Morgai.“ Each man grabbed one of the captives and flung them over their shoulders. They then jogged the way up to the road, over it and into the folds of the Morgai. As soon as they had reached the folds, they rested to regain their breaths.

 

Both took the chance to gaze at the great eye and still it was looking into the South. 

 

“Faramir and the Guards at the citadel must have created this diversion.“ Aragorn suggested. - “Possible, but how should he have known that we had these ones captured already?“ - “It's coincidence, I suppose or just our luck!“ Aragorn tried to explain.

 

“If that is so, we should not press our luck too much and move on while we have the chance to remain undetected.“ Boromir, having said this, grabbed the wriggling Gollum and stuffed him into a bag, which he bound to his back just like a backpack. Aragorn had to laugh, when he saw Gollum's face peaking out of the sack, looking backwards, so he was not able to bite or scratch Boromir. He then fared with Frodoc in the same fashion. 

 

They decided, that Frodoc should carry the ring as long as possible. This would prevent them to get under the ring's spell. For the short route up to the mountain, where they would leave the two creatures behind, bound and gagged, they had planned to put the ring into a leather pouch filled with sand, sticking the ring inside with the help of a little twig. Pouch, twig and sand they had collected earlier, just to be prepared. 

  
They had almost reached the point where they would march towards Mount Doom, when the light swooned over them. They crouched and pressed themselves against the Morgai wall holding their breath, hoping not to be found out. The beam coming from the eye wavered and lingered for a while and they already feared, that they had betrayed themselves. It was then that Aragorn's sharp ears noticed the ruckus of an approaching army. With the eye staring directly in their direction, they did not dare to make a move. 

 

It was as if the Orc army had drawn the rain and as soon as the first Orc passed their hideout, the heavens opened and the downpour drenched them to the bones. The forces marching on the road seemed to be endless and Boromir grew worried. If the Orcs did not pass them fast enough or it wouldn’t stop to rain, the Morgai fold was to become a treacherous trap. The torrential rain would gather and form something like a springflood, which as powerful as it would be, most certainly would drown them.  Under the cover of the night both men crawled cautiously forward, leaving their captives bound and gagged behind. After they had removed the ring and placed it into the pouch, they moved out of the eye's ray and spying a gap between the battalions, they attacked two of the Uruks and killed them. 

 

They dragged their prey over the Morgai fold and stripped them of their armours. They put the armours on and crawled back to where they had left their captives behind, but the two Gollfrocs were gone. They were sure, that the creatures would try to steal the ring and therefore Boromir produced a second pouch, making it as heavy as the other, it was the perfect twin. The men then swapped the pouches several times, to make sure, that even if they were watched, the onlooker would be confused. They ended up not knowing themselves, who had the pouch with the ring and therefore both stashed their own pouch thoroughly away.

 

They agreed, that they would perform the swap of the pouches several times, even though not knowing exactly who carried the ring, they wanted to make sure, that each of them would bear the dangerous treasure as shortest as possible. By this way they hoped to decrease the risk of falling under the ring's spell.

 

At last Boromir signalled that they had to leave the fold as the water masses would rush through any moment. Clumsily they climbed back and in the shadow of the marching army, they joined in and marched up North, the direction they had come from, hoping to find an opportunity to fall back and disappear unseen. 

They had to march with the column until the cross roads towards Durthang appeared in front of them and Boromir signalled Aragorn, that at the crossing, they would split from the formation and make a dash towards the Morgai again. Aragorn nodded, but got entangled in another row, further to the right, while their exit was to the left. 

 

As soon as the crossing appeared Boromir let himself fall behind, pretending his leg armour was loose. He waited until the last man was past him and made the dash. Breathless, but excited he reach the fold, turning around looking for Aragorn, he took his helmet off to have a better view. Only Aragorn wasn't with him, nowhere near. 

Boromir rushed back towards the road, where the last of the troupes vanished behind a bend. The only chance for Aragorn to get away now, was at the Gates of the citadel at the Isenmouth, but this would be tricky. Boromir decided not to go back onto the main road but to follow the road heading towards Durthang, for he knew, that there was a forking of the road, which led to the Gates at the Isenmouth. He rushed on, hurrying up the road to reach the forking as fast as possible. 

 

On his way he cursed himself over and over, that he had allowed Aragorn to drift so far apart from him. He should have pulled him back and pushed him onto the Durthang road instead of letting him doing it all by himself. Fear crept into Boromir and a terrible feeling of loss. NO, he could not allow anything to happen to Aragorn. In his panic he started to run, shedding the Uruk armour while he sped along the road. 

 

All the while dashing along the road he blamed himself, and for the first time he realised how much Aragorn meant to him and that the feelings he had thought to be pure friendship, in fact were more, much more. Completely out of breath he reached the fork, where the road he had rushed onward to Durthang met with the road that led from the Gates at the Isenmouth towards Durthang. Unfortunately this road was a bendy one as well and therefore he could not see far enough, to find out if someone was approaching. 

 

He rested for a short while to regain his breath and then dashed on away from the Durthang and towards the Gates. All the while he prayed that Aragorn had managed to slip away from the Mordorian army before they reached the Gates. If he had gone with the Orcs and Uruks into the citadel, it would be almost impossible to get him out of there, without being detected.

 

Fear and exhaustion drove tears into Boromir's eyes and he ran and ran blinded by his tears almost all the way up to the place where the main road and his side route met. Only, there was no Aragorn. In the shadow of the precipice near the Gates, Boromir sat down and cried.

  


Gollum wriggled himself free, first one hand then the other. As soon he had clawed himself out of the backpack, he freed Frodoc. The two leaped up the precipice of Ephel Duath. They moved quickly, this time Gollum taking the lead. “Come on my love.” He called back to Frodoc. Long gone were the times he had called him ‘Master’. Frodo was still in the process of transformation, however, he looked almost like his new friend already. 

It seemed even though he was deprived of the ring, the influence the ring had had, being worn so close to his heart for such a long time, had sped the process and still worked on his body and mind. Crawling up the steep stone wall of the Ephel Duath was no problem for him anymore and he was almost as swift as Gollum.

 

Their relationship had completely turned when Frodo, unable to destroy the ring, sat down on the ledge above the Samath Naur, hugging the ring and crying. Gollum's hostility turned and he sat next to him, both touching the ring. Frodo, who showed the first signs of the transformation, told Gollum, that he couldn't possibly destroy the beautiful, precious treasure and that he'd rather shared it with Gollum, if he would find them a way out, unseen from all their enemies. Gollum had promised to do so and as a first reward found himself kissed by Frodo.

 

Frodo was the one who made the next move and he cuddled close to Gollum and grabbing Gollum's hand, moved it onto his own body, rubbing himself up and down with Gollum's hand, breathing hard. He kissed Gollum again and the latter started the rubbing of Frodo's body all by himself, again being rewarded with a kiss, longer and deeper this time.

 

So they spent the first few days and nights inside Oroduin, with Frodo teaching Gollum how to make sex and Gollum getting addicted to the touching and being touched. So addicted in fact, that he didn't minded at all that Frodo, now turning into Frodoc, carried the ring around his neck still. For every time they made love, the ring would dangle between them and either touching Gollum's or Frodoc's chest.  When Frodoc taught Gollum how to use his tongue, the former Smeagol got all excited and learnt faster than even Frodoc had expected. 

 

Having bonded intensely and becoming lovers, the two decided it was time to leave the mountain, it was then that they discovered the approach of the two men. Gollum knew, that there was a second exit, but believed it too small for them to squeeze through. Hard pressed by the arrival of Boromir and Aragorn at the entrance to the Sammath Naur, Frodoc took over and helping Gollum through the gap, they made their escape.

 

This time it was Gollum’s turn to return the favour and freed from the bondage and the bags, the two climbed up the steep wall, knowing that neither the men nor the Orcs or Uruks would be able to follow. They climbed up until they reached the top of the precipice were they could rest and oversee the entire plateau of Gorgoroth.

 

There was no need to tell the other, that the plan was to get the ring back. No both's minds were firmly set on this. Unfortunately they could not tell who carried the ring, as both Boromir and Aragorn had a similar pouch. Therefore they decided to follow the two men, who had joined in with the Orcs and Uruks and were marching back north on the road back to Udûn. To their greatest dismay the two men got separated and this caused them great fear and trouble, as their trust towards each other was not yet strong enough to allowing them to split up and pursue each of the men separately. Cursing their misfortune, they decided to stay on the ridge and watch, hoping that the two men would be re-united again, somehow. 

  


As the main road could be overseen by the citadel at the Isenmouth and the great eye, Boromir decided to take the same route back he had come from. He wiped his tears away and rushed back onto the Durthang road until he was out of sight. There he rested as it was getting pitch black. He thanked himself, that he still had his elvish cloak with him, which he had folded tightly and tucked into his belt. He cuddled himself inside his cloak, leaning against the rocks which rose on both sides of the road. The cloak shielded him from the cold and the view of possible passer-bys. After all the road was used to send commandos from the citadel to Durthang and vice versa. 

 

It was exhaustion which helped him finally to fall asleep, nevertheless he had to push all thoughts of Aragorn aside, several times. As soon as it would be light again, he would go back where they had lost contact and search the surrounding. 

 

He slept very uncomfortable even though the cloak warmed him nicely. He dreamt most ghastly dreams. 

_**Aragorn and he walked along the road and when he tipped him to tell him that they needed to leave the Mordorian Army, Aragorn opened the visor of his helmet and turned into an Uruk.  Then he morphed into a creature just like Gollum and tried to attack Boromir. Finally the great eye grew a huge mouth and swallowed both Aragorn and himself.** _

 

He woke before dawn and shook the frost off his cloak. He hoped, that if Aragorn had got away, that he had his cloak with him as well. With the air still chilly he put the cloak on and then decided to check his pouch. He took the twig and poked into the sand and to his great surprise the ring emerged. He twirled the twig and managed to make the ring disappear again. With utmost care he stuffed the pouch away. If he couldn't find Aragorn, he would go back to Mount Doom and destroy the ring alone. One way or the other.

 

Boromir started out again and when he reached the point where he had lost Aragorn, he searched the ground for tracks that might tell him, what had happened to his king and friend. 

But the tracks were blurred as obviously another battalion of Sauron's army had marched past in the meantime.   
Even more saddened Boromir, turned and crawling back into the fold behind the Morgai faced southwards again to make his way to the Orodruin. He did not noticed, that two pairs of eyes followed him and two creatures fell in behind. 

   


He stumbled on through the debris the rain had thrown into the fold and progress was very slow. In his mind he still turned around what he could do to help Aragorn. But first things first, he decided. He would go back to the citadel at the Isenmouth as soon as he had destroyed the ring. It definitely would make travelling easier as he would not have to fear the great eye. At least he hoped so, it was what Mithrandir always had declared, that with the ring gone Sauron would vanish too. Boromir could not think of a plausible explanation as to why this should be the case, but he put his faith into the words of the white wizard and hoped for the best.

 

If Aragorn was still with the Mordorian army he would be fairly safe, as long as he kept his head down and did not tried any stupid stunts. He, Boromir, would find a way to get him out of there, if need be he would gather the entire Gondorian forces to free his friend. While he stumbled on, he noticed that someone must have made the same way as he, as there were tumbled over rocks and broken branches. He suddenly started to rush, hope against hope was speeding him on. Could it really be? Could these tracks have been made by Aragorn? He stopped, thinking it through, it could as well be a trap and he was running into it completely unprepared. He slowed down again, more careful following the track, sword in hand, he crawled forward, careful spying what the next bent in the fold might bring.

 

He reached the place where they had met with the enemies forces two days before. He was sure, that they had left the backpacks behind. The packs from which the Gollfrocs had escaped, only they were nowhere to be seen. Who ever was walking in front of him must have taken them or more likely, they had been washed away with the water. The only pity was that they had contained some food reserves as well and he had to deal without now, as all his food supply was gone as was the water.

 

He sat down there to rest and gather his strength. He smiled to himself, if these tracks which led on into southern direction, were indeed made by Aragorn, his friend not only had managed to escape, but also made his way to Cirith Ungol, where the Gondorians would take care of him. He wondered, if Aragorn had checked his pouch as well and discovered that his was the empty one. 

Boromir waited until dusk fell and in the half-light he made the dash toward the Orodruin.  With the mountain between him and Barad-dûr, he hoped that his approach over the plain would go unnoticed. The ring safely stashed away, he started to jog, hoping to reach the foot of the mountain before the last light disappeared and night would make every further move too dangerous. If his luck held, he would be able to rest in their old camp, which had been set-up by his brother during their first attempt to recover the ring-bearer.

  

Faramir looked out onto the plateau of Gorgoroth his forehead drawn to a worrying frown. He shirked, when a hand placed itself onto his shoulder and turning, he looked into Mithrandir's friendly face. “They are fine.” The old wizard said, reading the young warrior's thoughts. “And with Eomer now creating another diversion in the North we keep the Mordorian forces on their feet.” He added.

 

When Faramir had ridden out to face the Orc spies, he had been discovered by the watch at the citadel and the Gondorian soldiers had joint him, only to find themselves hopelessly outnumbered by Sauron's army lying in wait. Just when it had seemed to be a great defeat and the citadel lost to Mordor again, with the Ringwraiths attacking it on their fell beasts. The Gondorian main forces lead by Mithrandir had turned the leaf in the last minute. The bright light brought forward from the Wizards wand drove the fell riders back to the tower of Durthang, where they resided after the fall of Minas Morgul, which now was named back to Minas Ithil. A name it had held for some time, until it had fallen into the hands of the dark forces.

 

Another moth messenger had been sent to instruct Eomer to start the counter attack at the Black Gates, where the Riders of Rohan anxiously waited for the signal to go. Faramir's worry, that Eomer would not be able to understand the messenger, as he and his brother hadn't been able, had it not had been for Aragorn and his special crafts. But Mithrandir had pushed all worries aside by informing the young Steward of Gondor, that the wizard Radagast was with Eomer and he would be able to understand what news the little moth was bringing.

 

News from the heavily scarred White City came as well, which set a flame of hope into the hearts of all Gondorians. The citizens had started to rebuild Minas Tirith and were flooding back into the city, now that Minas Ithil and the citadel of Cirith Ungol were back in man's hands.

 

The attack at the Black Gates led to a rush-back of Sauron's army to the North. With moth messengers flying to and fro, the plan was to start another attack from the South. This way the Mordorian army was either forced to split up or to move back and forwards. Either way would help the Rohirrim and the Gondorians, as the army split in half could be defeated or the Orcs and Uruks would wear themselves out by rushing from one battle in the North to the next in the South and vice versa.

 

Still, Faramir's heart was deep in sorrow, thinking of the two warriors he had left behind the enemies lines. His fears weren't lightened when the night watch called out for a lonely figure approaching the citadel walking within the fold of the Morgai. 

He rushed out of his rooms, only to meet the old wizard in the corridor, both rushing on to the Gatehouse where the captive was held for inquiries. With fear in his heart indescribable Faramir entered the room of the warden of the Gates. Only one had been discovered. Only one, but Who? 

  


Eomer waited impatiently until Radagast would come back to bring him the news the moth messenger had provided. The Rohirrim had stood their ground at the Black Gates, but at what costs. Without fresh troupes for support their situation was helpless. Another attempt against the combined forces of Mordor his riders would not be able to cope with. 

 

Aiwendil the Grey came back with a grim face. This could only mean bad news, Eomer pondered. But it wasn’t only the affairs of war, which the young King of Rohan longed to hear of, but also news of his fair sister, the Lady Eowyn, which had been injured in the fight for their uncles live. The uncle had died in the end and Eowyn, even though killing the mighty Witchking of Angband, had been mortally wounded and remained in Minas Tirith in the house of healing ever since. Eomer had asked her to join him as soon as she would be recovered and strong enough to make the journey. But his first request had been denied on the grounds, that the fair lady was far too weak still to hit the road. 

 

Eomer missed his sister dearly, she was the one who spurted him on. Her courage was giving him the strength to carry on no matter how hopeless the situation might be. Now, when he needed her most, he was deprived of her presence and brave heart. 

Aiwendil, who had formerly been known as the Brown, stopped next to him, shaking his head slowly and as the news could not be broken carefully, went straight forward and told the young king, that there were no replenishment troupes to arrive and instead they were expected to attack again. 

This time at the same time as the troupes in the South at the Morgul Pass. Also his request of sending him his sister had been denied again. Still Lady Eowyn seemed to be too weak to travel. Eomer cursed, it was not so much that there were no fresh troupes or supplies and the order to strike again, but the fact that he would have to do without his sister by his side. 

Radagast reading his thoughts, placed his wrinkled hand on the young man's shoulder. “I understand that she was wounded fighting the Witchking of Angband.” He said softly. “The Witchking was always a very dangerous enemy. The ones his blow hit were poisoned by his witchcraft. It is a mere miracle that your sister should have faced his attack and lives.” 

Eomer nodded all this he was well aware of. It should have been much more likely that she had been killed at the first blow the Witchking had sent towards her. But then again not only had she survived, she had killed him. She all alone. His sadness was mingled with an indescribable pride. The pride of his sister’s strength and bravery to face such an abominable enemy. 

 

Pushing his thoughts aside, Eomer turned to the wizard asking about the plans Mithrandir had in mind and called for his officers to instruct them and to come down with an appropriate strategy, which not only would cut their losses, but also hopefully would put them into a position to withstand if not to win. For this time he was sure, they would not face the entire forces of Mordor as they would have to split up to defend the Morgul Pass as well. 

 

Mithrandir's plan was simple but effective. The Gondorian army would start the attack in three days time in the early hours of the morning. This would force Sauron to send his army back to the South to defend the entrance to his realm. The Rohirrim would fall into line after the first day was over. By this time the army must have marched more than halfway down South and they would split up and one half had to march back north, while the other commenced their way to the South.

 

If not, Sauron would send them to and fro, which would be a stupid thing to do, as it would wear his soldiers out. However, if only half of the forces or the weakened full army would hit them, this strategy would give them a fighting chance. Even with their thinning lines and tired warriors, they would be able to defeat the Mordorian forces, if they followed the plan to the letter.

Boromir crawled up the mountain and entered, amazed that he finally had made it without any further complication. With steady steps he reached the precipice, below him flowed in circles the bubbly heated core of the mountain. The uprising heat singed his hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. Clumsily he fumbled the pouch from his belt, heat-blisters swelling on his fingers and his face. He flung the pouch into the abyss, watching it dissolve, waiting for it's effect. 

**  
Nothing.**

  
The pouch burst into flame before it even reached the magma, only the sand which had been in the pouch formed a shining diamond, which bobbed like a little sailing boat on the red-golden flood. 

 

Not being able to bear the heat any longer, Boromir stumbled outside. Why? Why did nothing happen? Shouldn't the earth shake, Barad-Dûr crumble, Mount Doom explode? Nothing.

He tumbled down the mountain, his lungs burning, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground. 

 

It was pitch black around him when he awoke and for a split second he thought he had gone blind. It was then, that the clouds parted and he could see the stars blinking coldly down to earth. From the South he heard a flapping noise fast approaching and before he knew it, he was picked up by one of the great eagles and flown out of Mordor and dropped off at the citadel of Cirith Ungol. 

 

The next time he woke, his hands were bandaged and a cooling salve had been smeared on his burnt face. It stung a bit in his eyes, but he really did minded much. When the haze lifted from his sight, he saw Mithrandir, Faramir and Aragorn standing at his bed.

 

Mithrandir smiled at him and demanded him to rest. He faintly recalled, that he had thrown the ring into the depts of the Orodruin. He tried to ask, but Mithrandir shook his head and ordered him to sleep some more to regain his strength. 

 

On their way out of his bed chamber he could hear the three whisper, but unfortunately couldn't make out the words. His eyes grew heavy and he sank into a deep dreamless sleep. 

 

The men and the wizard discussed Boromir's state of health. He had been severely injured and the burns in his face and on his hands might leave scars, Mithrandir warned. What worried the old wizard most was of course, that Boromir not only had inhaled the fumes of Sammath Naur, but his lungs had been burnt. He would remain an invalid and his breathing would never again be easy and filling his lungs sufficiently. But then again, he had beaten Amon Amarth and proven the strength of his character. Men like him where rare.

 

The weeks went past and Boromir's healing process was slow. Master Elrond was called several time. Elrond, who after his daughter's death refused to leave Middle-Earth because his beloved daughter was buried in the Valley of Rivendell. He, recommended Boromir to be brought to imladris, as with the fumes of Mordor at his doorstep, his lungs never would recover. 

 

The Elven-lord was amazed that the man had risked all this, even though it had been all in vain. For now they knew that the pouch dropped into the heart of Amon Amarth hadn't held the ring, but only sand and ashes. 

Aragorn was deeply saddened by the fact that Boromir had to be whisked away to Rivendell. He lost a great warrior and leader in him. Of course Faramir would take over and be as good as his brother when it came to leading the Gondorian forces, it was just that Aragorn shared not the same feelings for Faramir and therefore he knew, that he would miss his friend dearly. 

  
Boromir had insisted to know how Aragorn had escaped the Mordorian army and before he had to leave,  Aragorn stood true to his word and told him, how he had seen him dashing off to the left and that he had stumbled and fallen off the road to the right and while falling down the steep embankment of the road had hit his head and lost his consciousness. The Orc soldiers who had been sent to check on him, had lazily declared him for dead and the army had moved on. 

  
He had tried to find Boromir as soon as he had regained his senses, but feared, that he had fallen pray to the forces stationed at Durthang. As he knew all but well, that he alone could not come to the rescue, he had decided to rush to the Morgul pass and fetch troupes from the citadel of Cirith Ungol. To be on the safe side, he had made the way all along the fold of the Morgai. When he had reached the hight of the Orodruin, he had remembered the pouch and checked whether his held the ring. He found his pouch devoid of the treacherous jewel and therefore he had rushed on. Especially as he had no food supplies left and the bags they had left behind there, had obviously been washed away when the flood raced through the funnel, that was the fold of the Morgai. 

Mithrandir had the moths messengers sent out to survey the progress of the two men and therefore they had received information on Boromir's quest and his whereabouts. The moths had brought reports, that the Gollfrocs had been following Boromir all the way back from the gates to Udûn and presumable stolen the ring from the pouch, while Boromir rested at the camp site on the foot of the mountain.

  
The wizard had sent out spies to validate the assumptions. As none of the spies had returned yet, they all were still waiting for the confirmation. 

  
Aragorn insisted to everybodies astonishment to accompany Elrond and Boromir to Rivendell. He left Mithrandir and Faramir in charge and gave the strict orders, that they had to hold the positions at the Morgul pass under all circumstances. 

The wizard and the young steward tried to convince him that his presence was mandatory to maintain the morale of the soldiers, but Aragorn denied, arguing that he had urgent matters to discuss with Lord Elrond and that he needed absolute privacy for this. He promised to return as soon as it was possible.

  
All the way up to Rivendell Aragorn never left Boromir's side once and Lord Elrond soon got hint of this. He had suspected something of the kind before and now got his confirmation. Aragorn showed all signs of a worried lover towards the wounded steward and chief of his army. 

Now, these kind of relationships were not new to the Elvish society, as partnerships between older and younger elves were not only tolerated, but also promoted, as a sort of mentorship. These relationships lasted normally until the younger elf had learnt what the older could teach and with coming of age of the youngster, most of these relationships ceased. 

With Aragorn having spent most of his childhood amongst Elves, Lord Elrond saw his relationship towards Boromir as the same kind of mentorship. Especially as the young Gondorian captain was so much younger than his King. 

 

On arrival at Imladris Aragorn asked his foster father to send out messengers to the Woodelves of Mirkwood, to call the old king Thranduil in on his word to assist in the fight, if worst would come to worst. Aragorn knew, that he hardly could spare Legolas, who was fighting with the Rohirrim at the Black Gates, but if there was one person able to convince his father, Thranduil, to enter the fights, it was Legolas. Therefore it was meant, that the messenger from Imladris would take Legolas' place until the young prince would return from Mirkwood with hopefully fresh troupes to strengthen the Rohan forces. 

 

Lord Elrond was addressed to put a word in with the Eldar of Lórien, King Celeborn and Queen Galadriel, to re-form their Elven army, which they had withdrawn and dissolved after the killing of Haldir at the battle of Helm's deep. He, Aragorn would lead these troupes himself, as he planned to march to the Crossing of Poros and there following the river upwards to her well and crossing the Ephel Duath, entering Nurn and attack the enemy from the South. 

  
As the Gates of Moria were forever shut, ever since the bridge of Khazad-dûm had fallen, this meant to attack the enemy from three sides, as there was no way to attack from the East due to the foothills of Ered Lithui. In the meantime Mithrandir would call the Ithrin Luin to Minas Tirith to strengthen the forces of the Istari. As Curunir was still on the run, they could not be sure, if he might join forces with Sauron again. 

Alatar and Pallando arrived earlier than expected. The blue wizards had sensed the danger long ago and immediately started their voyage to the west. Being under direct order from the Valar they had not needed to hear the moth messenger's urgent appeal. Mithrandir, running down the last two levels of Minas Tirith, rushed to greet his fellow Istaris. 

There was no need for pleasantries either, a side effect of being a wizard was always to know the whereabouts and constitution of his fellow members of the order. That was why the Ithrin Luin were not astonished to see Olórin or Mithrandir as he was called by the Gondorians, wearing the white garment. 

 

The three wizards rushed back to the top level of the White City. In the hall of the King they would be undisturbed and able to contact Aiwendil the Gey. The blue wizards were not astonished to hear that Radagast had given up his solitary live and joint forces with the men of Middle-Earth, but nevertheless a slight sign of disbelieve flickered in their eyes for a split second. “I have ordered Faramir the second Steward of Gondor and King Eomer of Rohan to join our little conference.” The white wizard almost unnecessarily explained. He smiled, “You have to excuse,” he said, “I have dealt now so long with the people of Middle-Earth, that I seemed to have forgotten, that we wizards not need to communicate by other means than thoughts.” The Ithin Luin smiled back and nodded, they understood, for they themselves having lived amongst the people of the far eastern realm, had learned to use rather words than thoughts for communication. “We perfectly understand,” Pallando said, “and it is safer too, for when we talk, Curunir can't read our minds. He is not too far from here anyway.”

Alatar and Mithrandir boths smiled and Olórin rushed forward to shake hands with both of them again. “I erm apo … apo…You excuse but I out of practise. People speak other …” Alatar stopped to think for the proper word, but Mithrandir cutting in, completely understanding, agreed that Alatar would only need to speak when necessary. The blue wizard sighed his relief. He had been so long in the farest eastern corner of the world where people spoke a completely different language that he struggled to find the words in common tongue. 

 

Mithrandir went for the door to see if Faramir was on his way and seeing the young captain approach he greeted him friendly. In the meantime Alatar went and fetched the Palantir for their communication with Radagast and the King of Rohan. The wizards started to activate the seeing stone careful to set it out in the right direction. This ensured that only the Palantir in Aiwendil's possession would read the communication. They were just about to start and the picture of the grey wizard and the young Rohirrim appeared in the seeing eye, when the door burst open. Their heads went in the direction of the noise and they saw Aragorn approaching. Mithrandir waved him to join in. 

 

Mithrandir started the conference off by informing the participants that this meeting was all about discussing the strategy for the next attacks. “But before we start, I need a full status of  you all. What is the situation? In what state are our forces?” Eomer started off. “Greyha…” he stopped in his tracks suddenly aware that he almost had called the white wizard by his old Rohan name. Mithrandir smiled “It is alright, call me Greyhame, you are used to it.” But the young king shook his head. “Mithrandir,” he started again, ”King Aragorn, wizards, the Roharrim have fought the dark army for one month now without refreshment troupes. You know that when we arrived summoned by the late King Theoden of Rohan, we mustered all able men of the Rohirrim. I have no supply of fresh men to back me up. In the attacks of the last weeks we lost about half of our men. I cannot lead my men into another attack without back-up.”

They all were aware of this unfortunate situation. It was Aragorn who raised his voice next. “King Eomer,” he approached the young king formally as it should be during such an event, ”We have sent word to the Elves in the North. As you know, we have sent Prince Legolas to his father. While we were in Imladris to discuss our situation and chances with Lord Elrond, we received information that King Thranduil and King Celeborn have joint their forces. Both have formed and army and have successfully attacked Dol Guldur. The resident Ringwraith has been killed in the fight to free Mirkwood from the dark forces. The army of the two Kings is on their way to join up with us.”

 

“This is indeed good news.” Aiwendil the grey replied. “When can we expect them to arrive?”

Aragorn gave a full update on his negotiations with the two Elvenkings, announcing that the plan was to split the joined army again and King Thranduil's army would fall in with the Rohirrim, while King Celeborn's troupe would join up with the Gondorians. His own plans he kept to himself for the moment. He would discuss them later with Mithrandir and the Ithrin Luin first.  

  


From the top of the precipice the Gollfrocs were able to overlook the entire plateau and all comings and goings. With their huge eyes they were even able to see clear during the darkest of nights. 

Therefore it did not go unnoticed that Boromir when poking in the pouch revealed the ring. Now things were easy. They ignored Aragorn stumbling through the fold, he meant nothing to them.

But when Boromir started out in the same direction the two followed close. In the beginning they remain on the edge of Ephel Dúath, only as soon as Boromir turned and marched off to the Amon Armath, they fell back in. Being small enough to crouch under the bushes they managed to remain unseen. However, Boromir seemed to fear another enemy much more and his gaze wandered over them without realisation several times. 

 

As soon as night fell and everything was dark like a tar pitch the two crawled forward. Boromir too exhausted and too tormented flung himself over and over on the rocky ground dreaming uncomfortable dreams. The pouch tucked in his belt was removed by swift fingers and replaced by another, similar to Boromir's.

 

When Aragorn had noticed that his pouch was empty apart from the sand and without hope to find Boromir unless he summoned the army and marched upon Durthang, he abandoned the little leather bag as unnecessary and obsolete. 

It had been Gollum's idea to fetch it, first of all to check if it really was empty and then he came up with the idea of swapping it against Boromir's which obviously held the ring. “The big ztupid willz not notice. Gollum, Gollum. And we pickzez it up our preciouz. And it will be OURZ, OURZ.” He jumped up and down in joyous anticipation. “Yez, my love, but firzt wez needz to get it. And hez might be ztupid but hez very big. Frodoc, Frodoc. Wez needz to make a plan. And wez needz to make it quick, before hez reachez the mountain. Frodoc, Frodoc, Frodoc.”

 

The plan was as simple as effective, while Gollum would fish out the pouch with the ring, Frodoc would stash the sandfilled pouch into the belt as replacement. And exactly so it was done. Boromir unawares of the nightly swap made his way up to the mountain and destroyed the pouch which he believed held the ring. 

 

As he was carried off by the great eagle closer to death than to life, he did not notice the two creepers dispersing of a pouch and holding up the ring jumping up and down for joy. 

But Frodoc stopped their joyous dance looking around and grabbing Gollum by his arm, he said, “Wez better goz my love. Frodoc, Frodoc. If the big eyezez zeez uz, wez in trouble. Letz make hazt and go out of thiz plaze to zomewhere zafer. Frodoc, Frodoc.” - “Wez know, wez know my love. Come follow uz, wez know where wez can hide uz.” Following Gollum's lead Frodoc spurred on towards the cliff of the Ephel Dúath and up the wall of stone the two wiggled their way out of Mordor.

 

When Sauron realised that the ring had left Mordor again he grew indeed angry. All his spies had told him that the ring had been with the men. Therefore concentrating on the warfare with the humans it had slipped his notice that two tiny worms, catapillar like, had crept away with the precious jewel right under his nose. And now the ring had left his immediate reach by being brought out of the bounderies of Mordor. 

 

On top of it all, the Orc army of Mirkwood and all his subjects including the Ringwraith of Dol Guldur had been killed or had fled and Mirkwood was back in the hands of the Elves. He, Sauron, had always seen Dol Guldur as his home, as he had lived there for a long time. To loose the tower was a huge drawback. Everywhere the humans seemed to join up their forces and disown him his right of overthrowing them. He found himself trapped inside of Mordor and Mordor seemed to be his last refuge. 

 

As soon as they had the mountain range of the Ephel Dúath between themselves and the dark lord the Gollfrocs felt immediately safer. They made their way further north and when reaching the Emyn Muil they rested for a day. They had passed the Black Gates further afar and seen the lights of the army beleaguering the citadel of Udún. The Orcs and the men busy in guarding each others move, did not take heed of the two tiny creatures which moved further north right behind their backs. 

 

Gollum's plan was for them to hide in the depth of the mines of Moria. With the Balrog dead and all the Orcs called to support and protect the realm of Mordor, he was sure that in the tunnels of the former kingdom of the dwarfs they would find a little corner where they could enjoy their precious and their shared live.  

 

 

When the two Gollfrocs set off again they almost bumped into the travelling party of Boromir and Aragorn on their way to Imladris. 

It was thanks to their swiftness that they managed to disappear undetected like two tine ghosts and even the Elves in the train did not notice their presence. 

 

Thus it was that the ring disappeared for a second time from the surface of Middle-Earth into the dark depth of Moria, protected by Frodoc and Gollum. But the dark lord was not satisfied, he needed the ring to complete his power and the ring tried hard to surface again. 

 

[ ](http://pics.livejournal.com/j_flattermann/pic/000br2kf/)

 

 

Soon after his arrival in Rivendell, Boromir received a visitor. Lady Galadriel had been called by Lord Elrond to have a look at the sick warrior, hoping that she might know a remedy to his injuries. The fact that the injuries had been received in Mordor and the poisonous air had infected them added to the worries of the Elf-lord. 

Elrond Undomiel, himself a great healer, was at the end of his tether and therefore had called for the Elf-sorcerer of Lorien. He trusted that she might find a spell to weaken the Mordorian influences Boromir had been exposed to. 

The clear air of Imladris and the healthy water had a soothing effect on Boromir's wounds. His burnt lungs still created the greatest worry. 

Aragorn had staid with his injured friend as long as he dared, but knowing that they had reached a turning point in their struggles against Sauron's dominance, he'd had to leave him behind hoping, that him remaining in Imladris would bring the hoped for cure.

Just before it was time to leave Lord Elrond's spies came back with news from Mirkwood, informing that the two Elven-kings successfully had freed their realm from the enemy’s influence and there was another piece of information, which was vital for Aragorn's future strategy. Legolas on his return, after summoning his father, stopped by in Rivendell, bearing the news that he had seen the two master escapists, Frodoc and Gollum near the eastern entrance to Moria. Knowing Gollum's preference for dark places and bringing the confirmation that Frodo's transformation was completed, it was very much likely that the two had chosen Moria for their hideout. 

“This is indeed good news, Legolas!” Aragorn shouted pleased to hear these news. “Sauron might have got these news as well and he will be desperate to break through. With your father's forces strengthening Eomer's army he will be able to hold them up at the Gates. I will instruct Mithrandir and Faramir to start an attack from the Morgul Pass.” Aragorn turned to his foster father “Adar, I will need some of your men too. I know, you have not many left, as the majority has made the voyage to the Undying Lands. But I want to encircle Sauron and hit him from the three approachable sides Mordor's boundaries offer. If I rush with a battalion to the South and we move past the Sea of Nurnen. I assume, that when Sauron sees, that he neither can make a break through at the Black Gates nor via the Morgul Pass, he will try to march through the Gap of Nurn. There I will wait for him with the men and then we will have him in our grip. Do you approve with my plan, Adar?”

  
Lord Elrond smiled, “It is a good plan, Estel. I will muster every man I can spare to support your course.” The man and the Elves embraced and took their leave from each other. Legolas to speed back to Eomer's army at the Black Gates and Aragorn, a few days later with a battalion of Elves of Lord Elrond's household, marched further South. First to Minas Tirith to inform Mithrandir of his plan and then further to close the circle they were drawing around Mordor.

Aragorn and Glorfindel left with a battalion of Elrond's warriors and marched towards South. When they reached Gondor Aragorn asked Glorfindel to take his force on to the Crossing of the Poros. He, Aragorn, would ride into Minas Tirith and inform Mithrandir and Faramir of the plan and then return to join forces with the Elves down at the Crossing.

Therefore Aragorn took leave of Glorfindel and the troupes of Imladris and turned towards the White City. He rushed on and reached Minas Tirith just in time to burst into the meeting between Mithrandir, the Ithrin Luin, Faramir, Eomer and Aiwendil. As bearer of good news he was more than welcome. 

In a consultation with the Ithrin Luin, Alatar and Pallando and Mithrandir the White, he laid open his plans to march with his new battalion aided by Glorfindel, who had fought against the Witchking of Angmar in the Second Age and driven him from his stronghold in Angmar, into Nurn and lock the Gap of Nurn from Lithlad. If Faramir and the Gordorian forces could secure the other side from the Tower of Cirith Ungol, Sauron and the Mordorian army would sit like a mouse in a trap. 

The only worry Aragorn admitted to was that the Haradrim might attack his rear and destroy his plan. Alatar took a look at the young King and shook his head. As his ability to speak the language of the Dunedain was still not good, he teleported his answer to his friend Pallando, who replied in his stead. “Alatar has informed me, that he can confirm that all Haradrim supporting Sauron's cause have moved into Mordor. The remaining Haradrim are neutral and as long as you and your battalion do not pose an imminent threat against the people of Harad, there is no reason why they should attack you from behind. On the contrary, some of the Haradrim hate Sauron and it is quite possible that you will find them rather on your side. It might be worthwhile to try and from a union with them. Alatar offers to come with you and work as your negotiator as they know him and like him well.”

Thus it came that the Ithrin Luin separated and Alatar rode out with Aragorn to join Glorfindel and the soldiers of Imladris. 

Pallando having heard of Boromir's injuries asked leave of Mithrandir and calling for Gwaihir to send one of his fellow eagles to bring the blue wizard as swiftly as possible to Imladris. Gwaihir, the Lord of the great eagles, sent out Meneldor the Swift and Pallando mounted and in a days time was brought to Imladris to support Elrond and the Lady Nerwen, as Galadriel had been named by her mother, to heal the wounded Gondorian.

It soon proofed to be a good thing that the Istari had come to the aid of the young captain as  Pallando discovered, that Boromir was indeed not comfortable in Imladris. He mistrusted the Elves and never had really warmed to them. Being treated by the White Lady of Lorien he regarded with great suspicion. All this was not helping with his recovery and therefore the Ithrin Luin Pallando decided to take him away from Imladris. 

With the Mirkwood recovered from the evil forces being Greenwood again, Pallando proclaimed that he and Boromir would reside in Dol Guldur. On arrival Pallando announced that the tower would be know by it's name of old again - Amon Lanc. With Boromir's lungs needed airing after he had breathed the deadly fumes of Sammath Naur, the wizard arranged for Boromir's rooms to be in the hight's of the Tower. He called for help from the people of Imladris to install an elevator for Boromir's convenience to ascent and descend from his room whenever he wished. He encouraged the young man to make trips out into the wood and explore the new surroundings. 

This new found freedom was welcomed by Boromir and he took leave from his confined rooms as often as possible and every time he ventured out into the wild, he returned to Amon Lanc a little bit healthier. 

Pallando did not change the potions Galadriel and Elrond had prescribed though, but instead was always open and honest with the young man, explaining to him which herbs the remedy contained. He would tell Boromir exactly what the brew would do and also the possible side effects it might have. This was very much appreciated and day after day Boromir trusted the wizard more. The progress Boromir's health made was truthfully reported via moth messenger to Minas Tirith and further South following an ever moving addressee. 

At the same time the returning moths would bring the latest developments on the war fronts, the progress Aragorn's troupe was making and which steps Faramir had taken to support the King's strategy. Boromir was provided with a map which he had spread out on a sideboard in his rooms. Mannequins showed the latest position the allied forces had taken and how the enemy responded towards the new developments. 

Boromir would discuss strategies with Pallando and even Elrond on his frequent visits to Amon Lanc. As Lord Undomiel visited Pallando regularly, Boromir got better acquainted to the Elf-Lord and by and by began to trust the sturdy and reserved Master of Imladris. One day Boromir ventured further north into Greenwood when he met two stately Elves, warriors and yet messengers. Curious as to who the two were, he approached them and introduced himself. The Elves replied this courtesy likewise. They were the sons of Lord Elrond Undomiel and brothers to the late Lady Arwen, with who Boromir had had fallen in love while she had walked in Middle-Earth. Elladan and Elrohir befriended themselves with the young warrior of the South and whenever time allowed the threesome would venture out into Greenwood hunting. 

Thus he grew in health and strength and before long Pallando had to admit that his patient was all healed and strong enough to return to his home and brother. Before bidding his farewell, Boromir asked Pallando to enquire, if he was allowed to one last visit to Imladris. He asked the wizard to formally request an audience with the Lord Elrond and the Queen Galadriel. Even though amazed by the formal request, Galadriel and Elrond agreed and Boromir accompanied by the Ithrin Luin Pallando made a visit according to protocol worthy of an Arandur of Minas Tirith. 

Boromir apologised during this meeting for having been such a impatient patient and thanked the Queen and the Lord that they had not forsaken him, but provided him with all remedies and wisdom in their power to make him well. And it was during this meeting that it was revealed, that Elladan and Elrohir wished to ride out with their new found friend all the way to Gondor and join in the army of Mithrandir and the Dunedain. 

In the beginning Elrond was not best pleased to hear that his two sons wanted to go into war along with the men. He rather had hoped to see them leaving Middle-Earth for the Undying Lands. He moaned that he would loose all his children before his time, but Lady Nerwen said “long time after you have gone to the Undying Lands, Elrond Undomiel, will these two roam the realms of Middle-Earth. Ever since our beloved Evenstar has been quenched, you have lost your stand in this world. These two are young and vital Elves, do not force them to lead your live of morning and sorrow, spend at a grave. For their faith is not connected to Arwen's, who choose mortality by her own will and for love.”

She continued, “I shall stay here with you until my liege and lord either falls in battle or returns to my side.” With this speech, she reminded Elrond that King Cereborn had tried to send his beloved wife to the Undying Lands as well, before riding out alongside King Thranduil. But Lady Galadriel had refused and told him, that they had endured so many dark times side by side, that she would not hear of it to be send away, when he needed her most. “I will not abandon you in the hour where you need my support most.” She had declared. With the Elven-soldiers of Lorien marching out with their King, the households of Caras Galadhon had been dissolved and the majority of the Elves had started the voyage to the Grey Haven. Lady Nerwen, not willing and bearing the thought of remaining behind in their abandoned home, had decided to go to Imladris and stay in the house of her daughter's husband, Elrond Undomiel. 

It was therefore decided that Lord Elrond's sons would ride with Boromir and join into the fights for Middle-Earth. Pallando would remain in the tower on Amon Lanc and together with Lady Galadriel and his fellow Istari, he would create a shield of power that reached from the former Mirkwood in the North, down to Harad in the South.

  
Gollum and Frodoc had reached the eastern entry of the Morian mines and vanished into the depts. Little did they know, that one Elf had seen them crawling into their dark hideout. Just it hadn't been this particular Elf alone, who had spied them, but also another one had loomed near the Gate of Moria and returning to his master had given the Gollfrocs away.

In Sauron's army there was two platoons of Dark Elves lead by the twin brothers Aaroror and Eekeror Ghoulshade, who were descendent of the Gwaith-i-Mirdain. Like their forefathers these elves hated the men, who had come to Middle-Earth after them and hated all elves, who had bonded with the Dunedain.

Within these two platoons there were two squads each of Dark Elves which were considered to be master in disguise. Able to make everyone they met believe that they were either Grey or Green elves. They even were able to speak Sindarin or Quenya still. 

It was in fact that one squad of these master disguiser had spotted the Gollfrocs when spying in the forest of Lorien for the dark lord. As they originally had the order to bring information on the armies of the Elven-kings Thranduil and Celeborn, they split their forces. The main body of the squad would follow the armies, while a group of seven would follow the Gollfrocs. It was this group, which not only was able to report to Sauron that Gollum and Frodoc had entered into Moria, but also that the two were in possession of the one ring.

  
When the Gollfrocs reached the entrance to the mines, Mynho Shadespawn ordered Dacatat Warhunt and Ubarok Grimcarver to follow him into the dark depths of what once had been the Dwarves Kingdom under the mountain. The rest of his men were send out to investigate, if there still were Grey Elves in Caras Galadhon. Ubarok handed the command to Enekahan Slanimirc and gave the strict order, that if the rumours were true and all Grey Elves had left Cara Galadhon, to invade the empty City. The men were to wait there until he and his two companions would return and join them. 

Ubarok planned not only to find the Gollfrocs in the depths of Moria, but also to catch them and bring them before their Lord.

Thus ordered Enekahan and his Nandorin turned and marched back into Lorien, carefully approaching Caras Galadhon. The four Dark Elves under Enekahan's lead fixed their disguises, turning themselves into Green Elves of Mirkwood. If the City of Cara Galadhon was indeed still in Grey Elves' hands, they would pose as a group of messengers. 

To make sure not to raise suspicion, they circled Lorien to enter from the right direction, the route from Mirkwood. As travelling was still considered dangerous, with Orcs and Uruks still lurking and attacking travellers, the group of four Elves would not been considered suspicious. 

The four Dark Elves indeed found Caras Galadhon abandoned and empty and they made their camp in the former palace of king Celeborn. Little did they know, that the Lady Galadriel had woven a girdle of enchantment around Lorien and especially Caras Galadhon, like Queen Melian had done before with the Kingdom of Doriath. Therefore the Dark Elves were detected as soon as they set foot into Lorien.  

  
So it came, that when Boromir and Lord Elrond's sons were about to leave Imladris, the Queen of Lorien went to Boromir and spoke: “Son of Gondor, dark is the hour that I come to seek you out, but dire is my need. My girdle has been breached and forcefully entered has what is dearest to me.” Boromir's eyes grew wide and blood shooting up, tinting his fair face.

Elrohir and Elladan were roaring with laughter, but silenced by their grandmother with a wave of the hand. Boromir stood as struck by thunder, not able to reply.

Lady Galadriel continued, “You see, Arandor, why I am coming to you, as you are young and your muscles are war hardened, I am placing my trust in you. These - “ and she pointed to her two grandsons giggling like little school girls, “I can't trust with such a perilous errand.” It took Boromir some time to fathom, what the White Lady of Lorien was talking about and what she requested of him. The two ‘Elf-fledglings’, as their grandmother had named them, had some explaining to do after the Lady had retired. 

However, Elladan could not help from chuckling recalling how Boromir's face had turned from pale white to bright red and how his facial expression had been throughout the address of the Queen. Now that Galadriel had gone, they explained that her grandmother had placed an enchanted girdle around Lorien and Caras Galadhon and that this girdle was the one, which had been breached. Boromir struggling to regain his dignity, only nodded to the explanation given. His two elf-friends carried on, that the realm of Lorien had been invaded by Dark Elves, according to their grandmother's knowledge about 26 to 30 men in all, split up into several groups.  The smallest, a group of three had gone to the Mines of Moria to retrieve the one ring from its depth. A group of four had broken into Caras Galadhon and was camping in the palace in the trees. The Queen of Lorien had asked his help not only to get rid of the invaders, but also to prevent at all costs, that these slaves of Sauron got hold of the ring. 

Cunning as the Elven-queen had been, she had instructed Boromir to let the Dark Elves retrieve the ring from Moria and wait until they would emerge from the mines. The soldiers of Elrohir and Elladan would support him in his quest. With both sons of Elrond holding command over a squad each, they would have enough soldiers to face the Dark Elves in Lorien.

Hence the three friends marched not off to the South, but rather the East to free Lorien before moving on to Gondor.  

  


Aragorn and Alatar had caught up with Glorfindel at the crossing of the Poros. They then had marched along the Ephel Duath first southwards and later eastwards. Soon after they had crossed the unmarked border into Khand, Alatar's knowledge of the language and the customs of the Variags and the Khandrim were made to good use. Aragorn found to his great astonishment that he never knew that there were different tribes of men living in Khand at all. Only Alatar, who had lived so long amongst them knew each and everyone and could keep them apart.

Alatar tried to explain in his limited language of the Dunedain what made each tribe different. The majority of the Variags for instance had followed Sauron's call, hoping to conquer better lands, for their part of the country consisted mainly of desserts, which made their lives hard and forced them to live nomad lives. While the Khandrim lived in lands which provided for their people and therefore they had shunned the war. That was until now, for of late the Variags had tried to invade their lands and Sauron had forced war upon these peace-loving people. Living close to the boards of Harad and so far of east, they had found it almost impossible to find alliance for both of their neighbouring countries had bonded with Sauron. 

When Aragorn and his Elven-army arrived many of the Khandrim applauded, believing their king finally had found an ally, and indeed so it was. 

Alatar introduced Aragorn and Glorfindel to the ruling king of the people which called themselves The Bansagari. King Andhral Orissaë greeted the strangers friendly and Alatar functioned as a translator between the King of the Bansagari and the King of the Dunadain. 

As Alatar found it very troublesome that his limits in the language of the Elves or the Dunedain would hinder the communication, he sought telepathic contact with Olórin in Minas Tirith. Olórin, known to Aragorn as Gandalf the White, would translate the conversation between the Bansagari king and Alatar, which Alatar provided in the common language of the Istari. The translation into the language Aragorn would understand was telepathically given to Alatar, who then had just to repeat what Gandalf placed into his mind.

Unfortunately slowed these procedures the process of communication down, but as it could not been help all parties went along with it. Glorfindel remained most reserved of all and when they were shown their quarters within the city of Bansaga, he told the young king not to trust the foreigners. The few Gondorians within Aragorn's troupe were called into the kings quarters and he questioned them, what they knew about these people. 

The Gondorian had in their history several clashes with the men of the South as they used to call them. Galandir the older, was the one who came forward and told Aragorn, that this people were known to the Gondorian as ‘the Nuri’, who were slaves to Sauron and provided him and Mordor with food from their fertile lands. The city was known in Gondor as Nurn due to her location at the shores of Lake Nurn otherwise named as ‘Sea of Nurnen’.

According to Galandir these people lived in fear of Sauron and Mordor and surely would fight for their independence, if they were supported by King Aragorn.

Boromir rode out into Lorien with his head in the clouds. It seemed like a dream that a few hours ago he had knelt before the Queen Galadriel and had been called ‘her champion knight’, weren't it for her colours hefted on his arm, he still would not believed it. 

Elrohir and Elladan riding beside him were chuckling and kicking each others shins as soon as they had ridden through the gate of Imladris. Each of them had received a gift of the Queen, who had been very astonished to find that Boromir still owned the elven-cloak he had received at their first encounter. 

To every bodies amazement the Queen had denounced her previous predicament. She had openly confessed, that she had misjudged the young Gondorian captain. During their first encounter she had accused him of failing the fellowship and being the reason for their breaking up, due to treachery. 

But Boromir had been proven true to his vow and had fought hard and brave. He had protected Frodo more than once and had taken the lead whenever Aragorn had faltered after Gandalf's departure in Moria. She never had thought that it would be Gandalf the grey, as he was then still, who would be the first to abandon the fellowship, even though not quite willingly. And it had been Boromir, who had spurned them on not to give up hope, when the word came that Frodo had betrayed the trust and formed an alliance with Gollum. 

Boromir had come up with a plan, to retrieve the ring from the depth of Mordor and to destroy the ring once and for all. Reading his heart the Queen found that his believe in the cause had not faltered and that he was still planning to destroy their enemy and the ring of power. The sturdiness of the young man had astonished and captivated her and even though she had seen the hidden love he felt for his King, a love which surmounted the love of a subject, servant and steward, she could not fault him for it.

Lord Elrond had noticed the confusion and the turmoil fighting within Boromir, after he had been announced the ‘Angcam Bardil-Lorien’. Elrond had asked the new protector of Lorien to follow into his study and there he had tried to dissolve the confusion created with the appointment of ‘Angcam’. Boromir confessed as to being irritated by the fact that he should ride out against elves. He had never heard of Dark Elves before and the concept of elves fighting in Sauron's army was utterly new to him. 

Lord Elrond took his time to explain and instruct the young man what he was going against and what he had to expect to find. In awe Boromir heard the history of the Moriquendi, the elves which never reached enlightenment for they never saw the Light of the Trees. He heard that the Moriquendi were formed by two branches of Elves, the Avari and the Umanyar. Lord Elrond warned him of the treachery and fierceness of the Moriquendi warriors and tried as best to prepare him for what he would face when reaching Caras Galadhon. Boromir learnt that in Caras Galadhon the last remnants of the Trees were growing, even thou their light had eclipsed centuries ago. 

Now riding into Lorien with his new sword ‘Thangmoriquendi’ dangling from his belt and the Queen's charms on his sleeve his head felt light and the doomed feeling he had when entering Lorien first, lifted from his soul. He swore that he would under no circumstances fail the Queen's trust, he'd rather die. 

The news that his brother had left Imladris filled Faramir with anticipation and a great joy, the bigger was the disappointment when he learnt that Boromir had turned towards Lorien. The disappointment grew into worry as soon as news came that Boromir would face an army of Dark Elves, who had invaded the Elvish sanctuary of Caras Galadhon. As he just like his brother never had heard of Dark Elves before, he searched for the King on Lorien, Celeborn, who had arrived in Minas Tirith weeks before. He asked the king to explain to him what these Dark Elves were and which kind of threat they would pose. Cereborn tried to dissolve the worries, but his explanations about the Moriquendi rather fed Faramir's anxieties. 

Faramir found no rest, thinking of his just recovered brother riding into a possible death trap, he consulted Mithandir to seek advice. Should he sent a troupe northward to Lorien to join in with his brother's quest? The old wizard called in a council with Cereborn and his generals and also consulted Aiwendil and Pallando. Especially Pallando as habitant of Amon Lanc, was the closest in distance to Lorien and having been Boromir's medical adviser and seen the progress of Boromir's recovery, the blue wizard was considered the best judge. 

As the wizards were able to converse via telepathy the Palantiri were not needed and therefore the risk of their conference being spied by Sauron limited. The risk of Curunir listening into their conversation had been annihilated by the fact, that the Valar had called him away from Middle-Earth after his treacherous behaviour had been exposed. With the restructuring of the orders of the Istari, installing Mithrandir as a member of the white order and Aiwendil being raised from brown to grey, Saruman had been ordered back to the order to be judged and punished for his failures. Only the Ithrin Luin, Alatar and Pallando had remained in the blue order, due to their special abilities and experience. 

Pallando's report on Boromir's recover process turned out to be a very favourable one, and the blue wizard left no doubt at all, that the first steward of Gondor and now “Iron hand to protect Lorien” was capable of dealing with the situation in Lorien. Leading the two squads of Elrohir and Elladan Undomiel meant that they dominated over their enemies two by one. Even considering the fact that both squads and their leaders, Elrond's sons were not as battle hardened as Boromir, he and his experience and strategic abilities should be sufficient to drive the Moriquendi out of Lorien. And in the end the Lady Galadriel had set her hopes into the young soldier and with her abilities of foresight, she most definitely wouldn't have done so, if she had had to fear them to be defeated. 

Pallando's final and concluding point was, that the Queen of Lorien would never have sent out her own grandsons, if they were feared to run into peril.

Addressing Faramir directly the blue wizard stressed that this mission, when leading to success would boost Boromir's confidence, which would be very helpful after his long illness and the feeling of failure during the Orodruin campaign. On the other hand King Aragorn expected Gondor's full support and therefore no man could be spared.

Even seeing the logic behind all these arguments, however Faramir gave in with grinding his teeth. He was only consoled, when Pallando promised to send in regular reports on the Lorien situation. They had almost finished, when news from Alatar reached Mithrandir, informing that King Andhral Orissaë and the Bansagari joined forces with King Aragorn and the Imladrian army. They had been recruiting and training for the last weeks and now Aragorn felt that they were fit to march against the Mordorian forces. 

He, Aragorn, called for the Gondorians and Celeborn's army to be prepared to strike at short notice. 

  


With the two group leader and his second in command searching in the depths of Moria for the ring and its bearers. The sergeant took over the command of the rest of the troupe ordered to spy on the Sindari deep int their lair of Caras Galadhon.

The group of three meanwhile entered into to the darkness of Moria in hope to get the one ring into their grasp. ‘Onnaro nurtya e huine’[*] **1** , who called himself Gollum, they had encountered while he had been captured and questioned in the year 3009. It had been them who had followed him later in 3018 and lost his track, discovering too late that he had vanished into Moria. And now again, it was Moria he had chosen to become his refuge. They knew about his abilities to venture in dark places and they expected, that his new companion must be a creature just like himself, for they had known him as ‘hoya yelta iluve’ - him who loathes everything.

Mynho, Urbarok and Dacatat entered the cave and even though their eyes are very well adapted to the dark, they needed a minute or two to adjust ,coming from the glare outside into the deep shades. However, it did not took them long and with their keen Elven-eyes they needed no artificial light source to lead them through the long tunnel. They moved freely not fearing to meet with ‘mellon en orquie’ **2** , for they knew that all Orcs had left Moria two years ago, during the dagora im Istar ar' Balrog, the battle between the Wizard and the Balrog on the day the bridge of Khazad-dûm was forever destroyed.

In Mordor they had marked the day, as one where the Orcs had lost a newly conquered stronghold. But now with Balrog and Wizard gone, the Umanyar soldiers wandered without fear. After they had reached the bottom of the great doom which once held the great bridge, they stopped and listened. 

From afar they could hear voices and they turned and followed the squealing and squeaking until they could make out the words that were spoken. 

Mynho signalled Dacatat and Ubarok to spread out and to circle around the source of the sound. The two different voices were clearly distinguishable and therefore they knew that they had both Onnaearon nurtya e huine **3** before them. Slowly the elves spread out and when they had Gollum and Frodoc surrounded they rushed forward and grabbed them. Both creatures wriggling and screaming, hard trying to free themselves, were soon bound and searched. But in the struggle to capture them the chain and the ring were lost. 

Mynho cursed his misfortune, not noticing the grin on Ubarok's face. When Mynho and Dacatat dragged the Gollfrocs back out into the daylight to start a proper search, Ubarok staid behind. He was sure the ring must have fallen into the little lake the two Onnaea **4**  had foraged for food. “ _Neithan marth, heren amin_.” **5**  he murmured to himself, wading into the icy water feeling the ground. 

It didn't took him long and he held the shiny ring in his hands. 

  
(* Translation into Quenya with special thanks to the dictionary provided by Tel'Mithrim [The Grey Company]©;  
  1 The creature who hides in the darkness;  
  2 Orc friend;  
  3 The creatures who hide in the darkness;  
  4 creatures;  
  5 You being unlucky, is my fortune.)

Ever since King Thranduil had joined forces with the Rohirrim there had been clashes with the young King Eomer. Thranduil had problems to accept the young Rohirrim as an equal partner in war. Ever so often when they held their council he would try to patronise and order the young sovereign around. Aiwendil the grey, still new to is role as advisor was unable to keep the peace in the camp. 

With different methods and opinions on how to prepare the army for the next fight, the great force sieging the Black Gates of Mordor had split into two leagues. Each kind supported their own king and even Legolas with his diplomatic abilities struggled to hold against his own father. Therefore Legolas and Aiwendil called the great council of the Istari, searching for a solution to this dramatically deteriorating and morals damaging situation.

King Thranduil refused to listen to any counsel of Aiwendil, whom he insisted to address and treat as if he were still Radagast the brown. King Eomir's rights and voice were continuously violated and if there was not somebody able to cut the Elven-king to size, the allied forces at the Black Gates would dissolve. With King Aragorn having started his campaign in the South the Northern alliance was needed to be strong and ready to strike at short notice.

As it soon proofed that even Mithrandir was sneered at, being referred to as Gandalf the Grey and his new status as the leader of the Istari as Gandalf the white utterly ignored and even words of advice from King Cereborn were pushed aside. The Istari came to the conclusion that it was either to hand the lead of the Greenelven army over to someone else or to find a counsellor out of the ranks of the Istari, who would be able to stand his ground against Thranduil. 

As Pallando was the only wizard close by and at the same time due to his long standing office in the East completely unknown to Thranduil, Mithrandir and Aiwendil turned to him for help. It was agreed that Aiwendil would take over the stand at Amon Lanc and keep and eye on Boromir, Lorien and Imladris, while Pallando would join the Elves and Rohirrim at the Gates. 

As the situation had grown so precarious that Aiwendil did not dare to leave before Pallando would have arrived, it was arrange that Lady Galadriel would travel to Amon Lanc to hold the tower until the arrival of the Grey Wizard, Aiwendil. Pallando, the member of the Ithrin Luin would depart to the Black Gates as soon as the Lady arrived.

Thus the ‘Council of the Colours’ ordered grey and blue to change their places, and by doing so they hoped to check a very bad tempered King of the Eldalië. Before he left Amon Lanc, the Blue Wizard held council with Lord Elrond Undomiel and Lady Galadriel. He made many inquiries as to nature, history and character of the Kings he had to deal with. 

The day he left Amon Lanc and waved his good-byes to the Queen of Lorien, he had a smile on his lips and throughout his entire voyage he was whistling a joyful tune.

Pallando hadn't reached the camp yet but was not far away, when he spied a rider coming towards him. From the garment he knew immediately that this was his fellow Istari Aiwendil the grey, who rushed to meet him. “I am so glad that you are here, the situation has become  unbearable, yes even dangerous. The Rohirrim are on the brink of revolt and willing to break the alliance and return to their own realm. I am at my wits end, I never was good with people, I wished I could return into the Brown convent and my secluded and peaceful life of old.” He briefed Pallando with all the developments within the camp and then sighed deeply, admitting that he should have stepped in much earlier, but was afraid of making it worse rather than better. 

Pallando had listened carefully and nodded once in a while. ”Don't you worry, Brother Aiwendil,” he said, ”you carry on and ride to Amon Lanc where you are waited for. I will carry on into the camp and see what can be done to pacify the quarrelling parties.” Thus Pallando rode on leaving Aiwendil behind. The grey wizard scratched his head throwing his hat into his lap in the process. ‘Good luck, my Brother.’ He whispered. He notched his pony to carry on while putting his hat back in place. In silence he thanked the Valar for releasing him from this challenge which was too great for him to cope. The solitude of Amon Lanc would do him good and he would regain his peace.

After two days riding he came to the outskirts of the Greenwood forest. He had just stepped down from his pony and was prepared to take the saddle off, when voices out of the forest alarmed him and he grabbed the reins and dragged his pony in the thick undergrowth. 

He soon realised that the language spoken was Quenya, but the dialect sounded strange and unfamiliar to him. This caused him to stay away hidden, until he could see which kind of  people were approaching. He guessed that they must be of the elven-kind but the harsh pronunciation of the words made him remain cautious. 

The group came closer by the minute as the voices grew louder, they obviously felt so safe that they made no effort to hide their presence. Not knowing what to do, and being all on his own Aiwendil hoped that they would march past him with out discovering his presence. As a precaution he held his staff ready.

He could not remember how long he did had cowered and waited, when suddenly the voices stopped their approach and screaming and shouting could be heard which soon turned into wailing until it died. The silence that fell scared the wizard more than the screaming and shouting of the strange voices had done. 

He waited a little while longer, listening to the sounds around him, but all he could hear were the regular sounds of the forest. He decided to move on carefully on foot, leading his pony behind him. He carefully approached the place from where he had heard the voices last. The picture before his eyes was horrible. Strewn over and opening in the forest lay an army of elves. Strange looking and unfamiliarly dressed. There were signs of a fight and strewn between the elves corpses lay more familiar looking elves. Elves he had known for long. Elves coming form the West, from Imladris.

He stood thunderstruck when a group of elves suddenly appeared at the other end of the opening, approaching fast. They stopped in front of him. Aiwendil held his breath. 

The minute Pallando arrived in the camp at the Black Gates, he called a meeting. Both Kings, the Elf as well as the Eorling were summoned into Aiwendil's tent. Pallando had just time to throw his liturgical garment over, when the footman announced the approach of the two Kings and their consorts, in this case the generals of each army. The sight angered Pallando, as he had hoped to settle the disagreement in a private conversation with the the kings, but it was clear that he had to use a different strategy. 

Therefore he left the tent to greet both delegations in front of the entrance and blocking the way, forced them to stop on the landing before his tent. He was just about to speak when King Thranduil cut in and demanded in an insulting manner to know who he was and what gave him the right to summon Kings as if they were little schoolboys. 

Pallando waved his staff and the entire company froze. He went over to where the Elf-King stood, thunderstruck and tipped him with his staff against the forehead. This made that King Thranduil unfroze but also be very confused and before he could settle into the situation, Pallando's angry voice hit him hard. So hard in fact that each spoken word fell like a physical blow and soon the King sank to his knees, wincing in pain. 

The blue Wizard stomped his staff to the ground and the entire company Elves and Rhohirrim unfroze and seeing their King on his knees in front of Pallando, the Elf-generals rushed to Thranduil's side. Pallondo, however, took no heed and raising his staff again, spoke with a voice that rolled like thunder over a vast plain.

“Have you forgotten what has brought you here? Are you willing to sacrifice your freedom for a stupid little quarrel, over pride and power? Do you not know, that this will strengthen the force we are fighting against and when HE wins this war, no one of you will have power, freedom and gone will be your pride, crawling like insects before HIM you will! HE will not hesitate and crush you, crush you like worms, the little worms you are proofing you are, just here and now!”

Each group stood silent, staring in awe at the powerful wizard and when he declared himself to be the new ruler, leader of the combined forces and that both Kings had to follow his commands, nobody dared to challenge him. They were dismissed with a wave of his hands and both groups Eorlingas and Elves dispersed in silence. Pallando went back into his tent, this had been easy. He smiled and started to whistle his little tune.

That night the camp was silent and everybody went to rest early. Every one, the people of the Mark and the Elves of Greenwood, stared at the shadow of the Wizard, cast against the walls of his tent. They had seen the marks on the Elf-Kings body and face and even though King Thranduil confirmed that the old wizard had not touched him once, his beaten up shape and the memory of him kneeling in the dirt, had left a deep impression in the memories of all present.

The last thing this day was for Pallando to order his footman to deliver a message to both Kings, that he expected all up and ready for a drill by rising of the sun. After this was done the blue Wizard retired and killed the lights.

  


Lady Galadriel was standing at the eastward looking windows of the Tower on Amon Lanc, in the room, which had been Boromir's quarter only a short while ago. From the staircase a voice came up soon to be followed by the shape of Lord Elrond. “They are coming, can you see them? You must be able to see them by now!” He shouted exitedly. “No, hin i Peredhil, there is, WAIT. You are right, there there they are coming!” Was her reply and she rushed past him and down the stairs out the door of the tower. It was there she suddenly stopped, remembering that she was the Queen of Lorien and trying to regain her stature, she took three deep breaths. Lord Elrond had followed her back down and now stood beside her a broad smile lit his face, when he saw his sons flanking Boromir in front of the elvish army. The boys had proven their value and he was proud, as proud as a father could be. 

Each of the Elf-princes had a bound creature sitting in front of them in the saddle, they had captured Frodoc and Gollum. Elrond would house them in Imladris for safe keep under close watch. In the middle of the warrior column walked bound as well a group of strangely looking elves. The captured Dark Elves and three of them seemed to be leaders giving their   proud stand against the rest. 

Next to Elrohir on a pony rode Aiwendil, waving and all smiles when he caught sight of the Elven Lord and Lady. It was a warm welcome and even Boromir was greeted and pressed to the elven hearts as if he was a home coming son. Elrond's war hardened soldiers took over the duty to watch the prisoners and the company was ushered inside for a feast with plentiful on food and drink. 

At the table the home comers were asked over and over again to tell the story of the capture of the Elves of Mordor and the Gollfrocs. Even though the ring had not been found, this was a good day and the outcome had been most successful. Ellardan composed several songs and hymns on the spot which described their adventures when recapturing Caras Galadhon and also on the waylaying of the Dark Elves at the Gates of Moria. 

However, Boromir begged to be excused soon, explaining that he was anxious to travel back to Gondor soon, and his apology was warm heartedly excepted. As soon as the young Gondorian soldier had retired the sons of Elrond sang their songs of praise on his braveness and wisdom in battle. 

When finally all soldiers and even the old wizard had retired to their quarters, Lady Galadriel  seeked her son in law and asked him for a favour. 

 

Even though Lord Elrond joined the festivities and the cheers, he still was worried over the loss of the one ring. When he saw that Boromir excused himself from the celebrations and walked out of the hall, he followed the young captain.

Outside he approached the young man and apologised for holding him up, as he clearly was going to retire, but Elrond had still some questions which burnt his soul and the worrying furrows on his forehead were living proof. Boromir understood only too well, he himself was turning the events at the Gate of Moria over and over in his mind.

“I am glad, that you are asking me, Mylord.” Boromir replied, “I myself can't seem to make sense of what happened. Maybe you may see what I have missed.” Elrond Undomiel nodded and lead the young man away to his council room, where they would be undisturbed and find the peace to think the events through, thoroughly. 

Elrond offered Boromir to sit and a drink. He then joined in, sitting opposite of the young captain. “Let us start with when you arrived at the Gate, what did you find!” He opened their conversation. Boromir frowned deeply trying to remember each and every detail. 

They had come to the banks of the Silverlode and had foolowed him upstream until they had reached Mirrormere. From there they had cautiously entered into Nandhurion, which was known to Boromir as Dimrill Dale. The young Gondorian soldier shuddered remembering the  dale. Memories of his first and second visit to Moria seemed to merge and he had to fight himself not to mix the events up. Lord Elrond saw him struggle and padded softly his arm. “Take your time, Boromir, don't rush. I know of the events when you and the fellowship walked through the mines for the first time. I understand that these memories are deeply imprinted in your mind. But I do not need to remind you, that I need a detailed account on your last visit to the Mines is of utmost importance.” 

Boromir nodded, “I will try to be as precise as I can. But I implore you, MyLord to compare my tale with the ones your sons will have to tell. For to them the situation might have appeared different as they have seen it through their Elven-eyes.”

Boromir continued, how they had spied the two Gollfrocs and the two Dark Elves struggling as the Elves obviously were searching for the ring on their two captives. Taking their chances while the enemy was concentrating on their victims, Boromir had ordered to silently surround and imprison the Elves and the Gollfrocs alike. It had been then, that a rumbling noise had risen from deep down inside the Mines and rocks had started to tumble down on them until a huge cloud of dust had covered them all. Boromir had ordered their retreat and waited until the dust had fallen to the ground. He then had returned to the entrance together with Lord Elrond's sons and found that it was entirely blocked. 

The search of the Dark Elves and the Gollfrocs for the ring had been without result and from one of the Dark Elves they had learnt that a third companion had been still in the mines when they obviously collapsed. Boromir himself, had made the way up the Dimrill Stair and searched the other entrance to the Mines but had found the Dimrill Gate still impassable as it had been when the fellowship first had entered into Moria. They had searched for a possible third way out but hadn't found any signs of it. He himself had come to the conclusion that the only person to know if there was such a third exit might be Gimli, son of Gloin. Therefore, Boromir concluded his tale, he was willing to travel as soon as the next morning to speak to Gimli, whom he knew to be in the army besieging the Gates of Mordor. He was sure to find the dwarf at the side of Legolas, with whom he had befriended. 

Elrond agreed and finally let the young man retreat to his own quarters to find a few hours rest before travelling on in the early hours of the morning.

  


Only Lord Elrond wouldn't wait. He went back to the festivities and waved Aiwendil out to have a word with him. When the old wizard came, Elrond took him by the arm and dragged him away from the laughter and the noise. The Istar saw the worried look on the Elf's face and without any further ado followed him back to the quiet council room. Even there Elrond could not immediately speak, but the wizard waited paitently.

“Ithron,” Elrond finally addressed Aiwendil, “I have a favour to ask of you. I know that you and your fellow brethren are able to communicate with each other without the use of a palantir.” The old wizard nodded approving to this remark, but remained silent, ready to hear the Elf-lord out. “I fear the one ring has fallen into the hands of our enemy and therefore can't wait until Boromir arrives at the Gates of Mordor to speak to Gimli, son of Gloin. Please make contact to Palando, there and ask him to require the following answer of the dwarf. Are there other exits to the Mines of Moria apart from the main Gates to the East and West? It is very important that the dwarf tell us where they are, if there are. Do you understand what I am after?” Aiwendil smile and affirmed his understanding. 

He closed his eyes, spread his arms and started to hum, the humming grew from slow to faster and suddenly his eyelids flattered and opened revealing the white of his eyeballs but no pupils. Elrond gasped at the frightening sight, but soon regained his composure. The old wizard remained in this stated for several minutes, until his eyes rolled back into the normal position. His breast was heaving but he smiled. 

“Palando is calling for Gimli to come and see him. He will contact me as soon as he has the answers ready for us.” Elrond sighed a relief. “Good!” He whispered and in silence he thanked the Valar for the wisdom of the Istari. However, the time seemed to creep slowly until the answer arrived.

Again Aiwendil's eyes rolled into the back of his head and his breast started to heave heavily. Only this time there was no humming on his part. He remained like this for another five to six minutes before he came back to report to the Lord of Imladris. His face foretelling the worries the report would bring.

“Ele, Peredhel! Hadhodrond has many exits the dwarf confirms, but the majority of them are only small clefts broad enough for a dwarf but not for an Elf to pass through. There are only two exits big enough for the Dark Elf, you fear to be the bearer of the one ring, to pass through. The one which leads high up to the stairs can't be used anymore with the bridge of Khazad-dûm in ruins, the other one points to the North but leads deep, deep down into the mountain and goes past the layer of the Balrog. Only few would dare to make this way.”

“The smaller ones,” Elrond exclaimed, “where are they? What if he is able to broaden them and slip through there?” Aiwendil shook his head, “The dwarf assured Palando, that they had tried hard to broaden the clefts, but the stone had been so hard that even their best tools had not been able to break the stone. No, Gimli is quite sure, only the passages to the stairs or the way past the Balrogs cave, will be of use for the Avar.” Elrond marched up and down the length of the room, mulling the message over. Finally he called for Erestor, his counsellor and ordered him to call a host of his men to march back to Moria and search for the additional exits, search for signs of an escape by the Avar and if there where no signs to guard the exits until they got new orders. 

Erestor followed the orders of his Lord to the ‘T’ and soon a great force of Elf-soldiers left Imladris for Moria.  

A few days later the host returned to Imladris bearing bad news for Lord Elrond, the Dark Elf had escaped the depths of Moria before the Elves had arrived and they had followed his tracks until the borders of Lorien and there they had lost any signs of him. Elrond cursed under his breath, with Boromir well on his way to join forces with Faramir in Gondor and his sons armies split up to protect Amon Lanc, the Grey Wizard's lair and Caras Galadhon, he had only this small host of soldiers which were needed to protect Imladris.

Ellardan and the Lady Galadriel had left the day before to return to Lorien, as the Queen had been troubled with bad dreams and was eager to consult the mirror at Caras Galadhon. The last council of the Istari had decided to discard the use of the Palantiri as they were too easy to manipulate. With Aiwendil residing in Amon Lanc, Elrond was cut off from any news from the front lines in the South. 

 A darkness crept over Middle-Earth coming in waves over the borders of Mordor. Aragorn saw it and it made his skin wrinkle. There was no time to loose. Something bad had been happening in the North, he could not say what, but now was the time to strike. 

He called for Alatar to call in a war council and to make contact with Mithrandir and Palando.  In the shortest amount of time the three wizards had summoned the leaders of the forces of Nurn, Gondor and Dagorlad. The leaders of the three armies laid their strategies and timings on the table and co-ordinated their strikes. As the main host of the Mordorian army was based in Udun in the fort at the Black Gates, Faramir and Aragorn would lead the first blow. This would force Sauron to withdraw his army from the gates to secure Mordor in the South at the Gap of Nurn. Mithrandir warned that the Dark Lord most certainly would send the Wraith first. “Expect them to fall upon you on their great fell-beasts.” It was agreed that Mithrandir would march with the Gondorians and shield them form the attack, while Alatar would do the same for the Nurnerim under the lead of Aragorn. 

Palando and his army would have to wait for the signal to strike to give them time to re-form and the Mordorian forces to cut their numbers. 

By next dawn Faramir would lead his army over the pass of Cirith Ungol and march towards the Barad-Dûr. Aragorn, who had made camp in the foothills of Ered Lithui at the source of the river which fed the Sea of Nurn from the North. 

In all three rivers ran into the Sea of Nurn, coming from high up north and running in a vast eastern curve the River Poros was the only running through river, which not only fed the Sea of Nurn but also connected her to the River Anduin and the sea. From the South with the source in the Ered Khand the Khanduin and from the North the River Nurnen were the other sources to the Sea of Nurn. 

  
The camp of the Nurnerian army had been made at the well of the Nurnen in the foothill of Ered Lithui and therefore their marching times to Barad-Dûr would be the same as for the Gondorian, if everything went to plan. 

The remaining Ringwraith were up in the tower of Durthang, even taking into consideration that they would fall in on their fell-beasts from the air, it would take them at least two to three hours to arrive. All this considered Aragorn decided to march with his host first before the break of light to draw the attention on his army, which meant that the wraith would have to face the route which took the most time. 

Palando would have to watch out for a moth messenger to give the time and date for the strike at the Gates. 

In Imladris Lord Elrond's restlessness grew and against Erestor's warnings he mounted his horse and left in direction Lorien all alone.  “Don’t hold me back, Erestor.” He said, “I must make haste. The ring in on his way to Mordor!”

  


Ubarok saw no reason for rushing back to Mordor, as a Dark Elf he was already under Sauron's spell and therefore the ring had no effect on him. All his way out of Moria and through the Dimrill Dale he had played with the ring. Trying him on onto the different fingers of his hand. The ring was huge and only on the Ubarok's thumb would fit. He had seen the Elves of Imladris coming and had hidden in the Dale, waited until they had disappeared on the stairs and then had made a dash out of the valley. 

Reaching the outskirts of Lorien he sensed a strong elvish power and therefore did not dared to enter, but rather made the circle around the forest. He had been constantly on his guard and controlled his aura not to make anyone aware of his presence. He felt the powerful girdle had been renewed and feared that the high-elf who had returned to the lair was scanning the forest for foreign elves. He also could feel that none of his fellow Avari was in the forest. 

He was about to cross the River Anduin at the North Undeep and enter into the Brown Lands, as he had planned to cross the Dagorlad as his host had done so often in the past. 

He was surveying the river for the best spot to cross and therefore the attack came utterly unexpected. For a split second it felt as if a red-heated wire had been passed through his head and chest, down to his loins. He tried to turn around to see from where the blow had come, when all fell dark around him.

Boromir had spied the tracks of the Dark Elves as soon as he had reached the outskirts of Lorien. A single track of an Elf in no hurry but clearly destined for Mordor. That he was following a Dark Elf he knew thanks to the generous gift of the Queen of Lorien. Before he had left Imladris Lady Galadriel had called him for an audience with her and there she had presented him with a newly forged Elven-made sword to thank him for sparing Caras Galadhon and freeing Lorien from the invaders. 

The Queen had explained that the blade specially made for him would not only detect all enemies but for each enemy glow in a different colour. Blue for Orcs, green for Uruks, yellow for the Wraith, purple for Goblins and wild Dwarves, red for the Dark Elves, silver for all of Sauron's beasts and golden for the Dark Lord himself. The dark red sheen of the blade had told Boromir early in his pursuit that he followed the Dark Elf. At the crossing of the river he saw the Elf for the first time, due to the horse of Lord Elrond's stable, had approached fast but also utterly silent. The skill of this new breed of horses out of Imladris's stables had astonished him already when leading the campaign in Caras Galadhon. He had only one explanation for the horses speed and skills, they must be descendants of the mighty Shadowfax, the chief of the Mearas or at least of his flock. 

Boromir had seen the ring in the Avar's hands and how he played with it all the time. Swift he closed in on the elf and with on stride of the blade cut deep through the body. The Dark Elf had stood as if struck by lightning until his body, cut in half split from his vertex and the two halves fell to the ground. 

Boromir searched in is pack for a safe place where to put the ring as he did not dared to touch it with his bare hands. To no avail and he cursed under his breath, realising that he had left the pouch in Imladris. With no other alternative he cut the Elf's hand of and shoved the ring onto the middle finger. It did not fit properly, but this was for the time being his least worry. 

He cut some cloth of his Elven-cloak and wrapped it around the severed hand with the ring, only to stuff it into his leather saddlebag. He worried that the ring might have a negative effect on the horse and silently wished he could counsel with Lord Elrond on what to do. 

As the darkness fell fast he decided to stay by the ford in the river and made his camp. It was just when everything had been covered in complete darkness and only his little fire shed some weak light, when he was disturbed by a noise. He drew his sword, but the blade remained black. Whoever was approaching couldn't be counted as an enemy, but he kept his guard. 

Great was his amazement when out of the river's mist, the figure of Lord Elrond on his horse emerged. 

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Boromir welcomed the Elf-lord to his camp and told him how he had finally overcome the latest ring-bearer and producing his saddlebag with ring, hand and all, he begged Lord Elrond to take care of the ring himself. “I fear that I am not capable to do what's needed still suffering from my last attempt.” He confessed. “I may ride with you and fight every enemy whose intention is to regain the ring for the forces of darkness, but my lungs a barely healed and I could not survive the fumes and the heat of this mountain as it is. Well, MyLord, that is where we stand, I am afraid you have to take the final step.”

The ring was carefully stowed away again, this time on Elrond's mount and by daybreak the Elf and the man rode down south towards the Black Gates side by side.

 

When they reached the Black Gates they stopped, shocked at what they found. The huge Gate stood wide open, with dead orcs, uruks, elves and men strewn over the plane. Carrion birds were circling the sky and even upon the gates they saw only dead bodies. Of the fighting armies, Mordorians or Elves and Rohirim was no sight at all. On moving in closer to the Gates they found that one had come off its hinges halfway and signs of heavy battering marred both. Right in the entrance there were the corpses of two massive cave-trolls. They rode through very slowly and took a look around but apart from the dead there was nobody there. The ford by the Gates had been deserted. 

 

Elrond stopped his horse and so did Boromir, looking questioning at the Elf. “What are you waiting for, MyLord? Don't you think we should take our chances while we can. This is our good fortune, obviously the enemy is engage with our army. This give us the chance to make the dash to the mountain and destroy the ring once and for all.”

Elrond nodded, “Quite right, young friend! Only I fear the Eye might find us out, therefore let's be careful in our approach towards the back entrance and see what we shall find there.”

 

Slowly and as noiselessly as possible riders and horses crossed the what once had been the courtyard of the citadel of Udun and at the other end were greeted with the same findings as at the front gate. There was only one exception, this time the dead were all on the enemies side. Elrond stopped his horse again and sight. “Carrying the ring into Mordor. I always feared this. Let's hope that our armies can hold him back and engage the Eye, so we might slip through unseen.” Having spoken these words he gave his horse the spurs and the  beast made a jumpstart and flew fast as the wind over the Plateau of Gorgoroth, with Boromir on his horse following at his tail. 

 

Within two hours the riders and horses reached the Orodruin, where Elrond and Boromir dismounted and started the climb up to the cave. Boromir's breath was laboured but he managed to keep up with the Elf, who stepped up the slope light footed. Elrond held the parcel containing the hand of the Dark Elf with the One Ring on the finger still wrapped in the elvish cloth Boromir had cut off his cloak the evening before. 

 

Side by side they reached the entrance to the mountain and Boromir announced that he would stay behind and not enter for his lungs were altogether in pain again. Elrond stepped forward but suddenly stopped. “Boromir, where is the Eye? Can you see it? Can you see Barad-Dur? I can't! The Dark Tower is no there where it should be!” Boromir moved forward to get a closer look in the direction where the Tower of the Enemy should be, only there was no tower to be seen. “It's gone! How can that be? The tower is gone and the Eye with it!” He shouted back at Elrond excited. The Elf-lord laid his hand against his forehead, concentrating hard, but finally gave up, shaking his head. “I can't see it. It must be the dark influence, I can't foresee anything at all.” He declared. 

 

Elrond sat down and suddenly began to unwrap the parcel, pulling the ring off the Dark Elf's hand, he stared at it for several seconds, muttering to himself. Boromir came closer again and seeing Lord Elrond staring at the ring while twisting and turning it in his hands, he said: “MyLord, don't you think it is time, to get rid of it. Now is the time to do it.” Elrond face shot up at him, eyes sparkling with hatred, “NO! It is over! There is no need to destroy it anymore!” and in a softer tone almost speaking to himself he added: “why should such a beautiful thing be destroyed? It would be a pity. It is such a wonderful treasure and precious.” Hearing these words a cold shudder went through Boromir, he lapped forward grabbed the ring out of Elrond's hand and ran into the cave. Elrond screaming like a banshee followed him swift. 

 

At the edge of Sammath Naur Boromir stopped and opened his hand. Elrond jumped at him, trying to grab the ring, hitting Boromir hard.

Boromir stumbled and the edge under his feet seemed to crumble away. Elrond slid on his belly towards the abyss, still trying to reach the ring.

The Gondorian army and the Nurnerim joined forces and marched on towards the Black Tower. Believing that the entire Army of Men was lurking at his doorstep Sauron ordered his troops to leave the Black Gates only leaving a handful of men behind, trusting that the Gate was unbreakable and that the host that had sieged the Gate had moved down South to join in into the march towards Barad-Dûr. Therefore it came to his great surprise when Palando stormed the Gates and ransacked the citadel, driving the few Orcs and Uruks, which had managed to flee, like a flock of geese before their herder, all the way across the Plateau of Gorgoroth, passing the Orodruin. In only one and a half day they marched from the Isenmouth to the Dark Tower of Mordor. 

 

In the meantime, the main host of the Mordorian army had clashed with Faramir's and Aragorn's soldiers. The Ring-wraiths had been called out first and in only a few hours the five had reached the battle ground on their fell beasts. However, they arrived late, too late to make an impact as Aragorn and Faramir had met and re-formed their army, with Mithrandir and Alatar awaiting the attack of the dark servants of Morgul. 

 

Without their captain, the Witch-lord of Angmar, who had been slain by the Lady of Rohan and The Black Easterling, his second in command as well as Khamûl the Shadow of the East, who both had been killed in the battle of Amon Hen. A lieutenant had been slain there too, which left the Ring-wraiths leaderless and they fought each other for the lead rather then striking against the attackers. The five Nazgúl took their time and only when Sauron used the power of his eye upon them, they left Durthang as Winged Wraiths and flew to the South. 

 

Sauron was boiling with anger as the delay in the Ringwraiths departure allowed the Army of Men and Elves to combine their forces and marching upon Barad-Dûr. When the five Úlairi finally arrived the Rohirim had joined from the North and the three Istari were ready and prepared to fight them. The Nagúl arrived in formation and Alatar in the East, Mithrandir in the West and Palando in the North formed a magic triangle with their staffs catching and burning the Ring-wraiths in bright lights. 

 

The Orcs and Uruk-hai crumbled under the joined attack and in the end the full force hit the Dark Tower and supported by the wizards magical powers Barad-Dûr was taken and the Dark Enemy captured. Sauron was bound with magic cuffs and the great eye imploded bringing the Dark Tower down. 

 

As neither Elves or Men dared to judge over the great Maia, he was giving into custody of the Istari, which took him away to stand before the Valar. The Great Ones punished Sauron to be thrown into the abyss, where he was left together with his former master Melkor. 

 

When Elrond and Boromir arrived at the Orodruin, Sauron had been captured already and was about to leave Middle-Earth alongside the three Istari. 

Boromir destroyed the ring in exactly the minute when the Dark Lord left Middle-Earth forever. Both Elrond and the Gondorian Captain managed to escape from the crumbling precipice at the last minute, with Boromir dragging the Elf-lord out of the Mountain. 

 

When the One Ring hit the Sammath Naur, the power of the ring hardened the liquified core of Orodruin and the Cracks of Doom closed, never to open again. In its depths the One Ring was incapsulated for eternity.

 

 

**The End**

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